The mother of a six-year-old boy who shot his 1st grade teacher has lost her parental rights.
Deja Nicole Taylor, 25, was sentenced to two years in prison on Friday. That’s in addition to the 21 months she received in exchange for pleading guilty to felony gun charges in November.
The Newport News Circuit judge sentenced Taylor to a total of 5 years in prison, with 3 years suspended.
She has been banned from contacting her son until he turns 18, a judge ruled on Friday.
Taylor previously pled guilty to lying about her marijuana use on an application for a gun permit. She is a heavy marijuana smoker, according to court documents.
As part of her plea deal, the prosecutor agreed to drop a misdemeanor charge of recklessly storing a firearm.
Taylor’s son took his mother’s handgun to school and shot teacher Abby Zwerner in her first-grade classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia in January.
Zwerner, 26, survived her injuries, but she was fired by the school district after she filed a $40 million lawsuit.
The boy told police he climbed on a dresser and took his mother’s gun that was on top of the dresser.
Taylor initially told police she secured the gun with a trigger lock and stored it on a top shelf in a closet. However, no lock was found by police.
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After shooting Zwerner, the boy told a reading specialist who restrained him: “I shot that b-tch dead,” according to search warrants obtained by the New York Post.
It was the second time the gun had been fired in public. Taylor shot at her son’s father in December when she caught him with his girlfriend, according to The Post.
“u kouldve killed me [sic],” the father wrote to Taylor in a text message, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say Taylor smoked 2 blunts sometime after her son shot his teacher. She failed drug tests while awaiting sentencing on the federal charges.
Taylor’s attorneys asked for probation or home confinement for Taylor. They argued Taylor needs counseling for schizoaffective disorder and drug addiction.
“Addiction is a disease and incarceration is not the cure,” her attorneys wrote in court filings.
“Ms. Taylor is deeply saddened, extremely despondent, and completely remorseful for the unintended consequences and mistakes that led to this horrible shooting,” her attorneys wrote.
Taylor’s grandfather has had full custody of her son since the shooting, according to court documents.
The boy, who is now 7, transferred to a school outside of the district, according to court filings.
