The mother of the six-year-old Virginia boy who shot his teacher earlier this year in an incident that made national headlines has received a two-year sentence for felony child neglect.
On Friday, Circuit Court Judge Christopher Papile ruled that Deja Taylor should serve two years behind bars for her culpability in the incident in which her son used her 9 mm Taurus handgun to critically wound Abby Zwerner in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, a story that shocked the nation.
Taylor, who pleaded guilty in August, avoided up to five years in prison but made a deal. The two years were harsher than the six months requested by prosecutors under her plea deal in which an additional misdemeanor charge of reckless storage of a firearm was dropped.
(Video: YouTube/13News Now)
Judge Papile felt that the six months recommended by state sentencing guidelines wasn’t enough for the crime, an abdication of parental responsibilities.
“A parent’s ultimate and overarching and primary and paramount — however you want to say it — responsibility is to keep a child safe,” he said, according to the Daily Press. “To protect the child. To keep them from bad influences. To keep them from dangerous situations. To keep them healthy and nurtured. Ms. Taylor has abdicated most if not all of these responsibilities.”
“The results (of Taylor’s child neglect) are egregious,” Papile said, noting not only the physical and psychological scars to Zwerner, but to other children in the classroom who had to witness the shooting,” the outlet reported.
On January 6, the child – whose name has not been revealed – pulled his mother’s gun out of his backpack and busted a cap into Zwerner in front of her first-grade students. Fortunately, the bullet didn’t kill her but passed through her hand into her chest. She is still recovering from her injuries from the incident which also likely caused lasting trauma to the young children who witnessed the violent act.
“We are disappointed in the judge’s sentence and believe it was excessive given her mental health issues as well her being the repeated victim of domestic violence,” Taylor’s attorney James Ellenson said, portraying his client as a victim.
Last month in a separate sentencing, Taylor was sentenced to 21 months in prison on federal charges of using marijuana while using a firearm. She is to begin serving her state sentence after she finishes serving the time under the federal charge.
“Court documents show police found marijuana in Taylor’s home after the shooting. Federal prosecutors in Virginia argued in court filings that Taylor’s ‘chronic, persistent and … life-affecting abuse extends this case far beyond any occasional and/or recreational use,'” according to The Hill.
“This case is not a marijuana case,” the prosecutors wrote. “It is a case that underscores the inherently dangerous nature and circumstances that arise from the caustic cocktail of mixing consistent and prolonged controlled substance use with a lethal firearm.”
Zwerner, who was the prosecution’s sole witness, read a statement about the incident and its aftermath.
“My life and once cherished career have been completely turned upside down,” she said. “I feel as if I have lost my purpose. I loved children, and now I’m scared to have a job involving them. I was in love with my career, and now it’s been stripped of me.”
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Chris Donaldson is an ordinary American who is concerned about rampant corruption as well as the ongoing attacks on our way of life by those who have contempt for our hard-earned freedoms. A Navy veteran, he has been a frequent contributor to conservative websites and resides in Florida.
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