Ex-Richneck Assistant Principal Charged with Child Neglect After 6-Year-Old Shot Teacher
Ebony Parker is accused of ignoring at least three teachers’ warnings that the student might be carrying a gun.
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UPDATE 4/12/2024:
More than a year after a six-year-old boy shot his teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., the school’s former assistant principal has been indicted on eight felony counts of child abuse and neglect.
Ebony Parker was indicted by a grand jury last month but the documents were unsealed Tuesday, the New York Times reports. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The boy shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in the chest with his mother’s gun on Jan. 6, 2023. In a report released Wednesday, the special grand jury investigating the case said there were eight bullets in the gun and that the child allegedly tried to fire a second time but the gun jammed. Zwerner is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, accusing administrators of negligence that allowed the shooting to take place.
Parker, who resigned from her position shortly after the shooting, is accused of ignoring at least three teachers’ warnings that the student might be carrying a gun. Parker reportedly said he “has small pockets,” suggesting he wouldn’t be able to conceal a weapon. An hour before the shooting, a school counselor asked Parker to check if the boy had a gun but she allegedly declined.
The new report also notes questions remain regarding the whereabouts of the boy’s disciplinary records after the shooting, according to ABC News. There should have been two sets of physical records — one in the main office and one in Zwerner’s classroom — but police did not find the documents in either place when they executed a search warrant. Every other students’ files were in both locations, according to the report. When police asked about the missing files, another school administrator reportedly returned the main office file, which had been either in her home or car. The second file was never found.
“The grand jury report reveals a systemic failure that led to the shooting of Abby Zwerner. Most shocking is the apparent cover up of disciplinary records before and after the shooting,” Zwerner’s lawyers wrote in a statement. “We are grateful for the work of the special grand jury and the answers they have provided this community.”
Richneck Student’s Mother Sentenced on Child Neglect Charges
Charges against Parker come at a time when adults are being held increasingly responsible for juveniles who perpetrate gun violence. The six-year-old boy’s mother, Deja Taylor, was also sentenced in December to two years in prison for felony child neglect. Taylor’s son told authorities he got his mother’s handgun out of his purse which was on top of a dresser. He concealed the weapon in his backpack and then his pocket before shooting Zwerner.
Taylor initially told investigators she had secured her gun with a trigger lock but investigators said they never found one. She pleaded guilty in June 2023 to the felony neglect charge. Local prosecutors agreed to drop a misdemeanor count of recklessly storing a firearm. Taylor was also sentenced in November to 21 months in prison for using marijuana while owning a gun.
Earlier this week, the parents of a teen who shot and killed four people at Oxford High School in 2021 were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. Jennifer and James Crumbley were both found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter, making them the first parents in the U.S. to be held responsible for their child carrying out a mass school shooting. Prosecutors say Jennifer Crumbley was “grossly negligent” in giving a gun to her then-15-year-old son and that she had a duty under state law to prevent him from harming others.
Prosecutors maintained throughout James Crumbley’s trial that he should have reasonably foreseen that his son was troubled and may resort to violence. Prosecutors said Crumbley purchased the gun used in the shooting for his son during a time when he was struggling emotionally after his best friend moved away.
UPDATE JUNE 6, 2023:
The mother of a 6-year-old male student who shot his first-grade teacher with a gun he brought to Richneck Elementary School with him in January will plead guilty to new federal felony charges.
The woman, Deja Taylor, 26, was charged with unlawful use of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm and with making a false statement while purchasing her semiautomatic handgun, reports CNN. She agreed to plead guilty to the charges and will enter her plea later this week or early next week.
Taylor also faces state charges, which were outlined in our April 12 article below.
ORIGINAL APRIL 12, 2023 ARTICLE:
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – A grand jury has indicted the mother of the 6-year-old Richneck Elementary School student who shot his first-grade teacher in January.
The 25-year-old mother was charged on Monday with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor count of recklessly leaving a firearm that endangers a child, reports WTKR. It was announced in March that her son will not face aggravated assault charges.
The boy shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in the chest with his mother’s gun on January 6. The local police chief says the shooting was intentional and that there was no warning or struggle before the boy shot one round at Zwerner, reports 13NewsNow.
Before the shooting, the child allegedly had a long history of troubling behavior at Richneck Elementary, including strangling and choking a teacher, inappropriate touching of a child, chasing other students around the playground with a belt, cursing at teachers and staff members, and more.
The mother’s attorney claims her gun, which police say was legally purchased, was secured on a top shelf in her closet and had a trigger lock, reports PBS.
Zwerner has filed a $40 million lawsuit, claiming Richneck Elementary School administrators ignored multiple warnings that the boy had a gun and posed an imminent threat. She is suing former Assistant Principal Ebony Parker, the Newport News School Board, former Superintendent George Parker III, and former Principal Briana Foster Newton.
The shooting prompted the school’s vice principal to resign in late January, reports WRIC.
In response to the shooting, security upgrades are being implemented on campus, including the installation of permanent metal detectors. Additionally, the front entrance will be redesigned to be a secure vestibule equipped with a buzzer so staff can screen visitors. A full-time security officer, rather than a part-time officer, will also patrol campus.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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