A Virginia woman whose 6-year-old son shot his first-grade teacher turned herself in to authorities on Thursday, April 13.
Deja Nicole Taylor, 26, surrendered to the Newport News Sheriff’s Office and was charged with child neglect and recklessly leaving a firearm so as to endanger a child, her attorney said.
She was released on $5,000 bond, attorney James Ellenson told CNN.
She faces up to 7 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
The criminal charges follow “a thorough investigation by Newport News Police Department and this office,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn said in a statement on Monday.
Family lawyer James Ellenson told Inside Edition Digital Tuesday that Taylor has been cooperating with authorities since “day one”. Ellenson said his client has no criminal history and the boy is her only child.
“As always, first and foremost is the continued health and well-being of all persons involved in the incident at Richneck Elementary School, to include both the teacher and Deja’s son,” Ellenson said.
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Taylor previously told investigators her 9mm Taurus pistol was placed on a top shelf in a closet in her bedroom. The loaded handgun was secured with a trigger lock that any child could pick.
Taylor’s son allegedly put the gun in his backpack and took it to Richneck Elementary School on Jan. 6.
Police said the boy shot 25-year-old first-grade teacher Abigail Zwerner while she read to her students. Zwerner later told police the boy pulled the gun from the front pocket of his hoodie, pointed it at her and fired.
“I remember him pointing the gun at me, I remember the look on his face,” Zwerner said. “I remember the gun going off.”
Zwerner suffered injuries to her chest and hand but she has since recovered. She does not have full use of her hand.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Taylor said her son “suffers from an acute disability and was under a care plan at the school that included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day.”
“The week of the shooting was the first week when we were not in class with him,” she said.
Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit against the Newport News School Board earlier this month.
The lawsuit cited former Richneck assistant principal Ebony Parker for choosing to “breach her assumed duty” to protect Zwerner, “despite multiple reports that a firearm was on school property and likely in possession of a violent individual.”
The boy will not be charged due to his age, prosecutors said. He is currently receiving treatment in a mental health facility.
Additional charges are possible if an investigation determines school administration officials willfully ignored warnings that a dangerous person was in possession of a deadly weapon.
