Mother of 6-year-old Richneck shooter charged; prosecutors look to further investigate security issues

A Newport News grand jury on Monday indicted the mother of the 6-year-old boy who shot his first grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School three months ago.

Deja Nicole Taylor, 25, of Newport News — whose son shot 25-year-old teacher Abby Zwerner during class Jan. 6 — was charged with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor count of recklessly leaving a firearm so as to endanger a child.

Newport News prosecutors also asked a Circuit Court judge to impanel a special grand jury to “continue the investigation into any security issues that may have contributed to this shooting.” This could include looking at Richneck administrators, the school system and others.

Such a probe could take months — and could lead to more indictments.

“Their investigation will continue as long as necessary to determine whether others are criminally responsible for the shooting of January 6,” the Newport News commonwealth’s attorney’s office wrote in a news release Monday afternoon.

The charges against the boy’s mother “come after a thorough investigation by Newport News Police Department and this office,” the release said, saying “the facts and the law support charging Deja Taylor” with the felony and misdemeanor counts.

“Every criminal case is unique in its facts, and these facts support these charges, but our investigation into the shooting continues,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn wrote in the release.

A clerk at Newport News Circuit Court said the indictments and the prosecution’s petition for a special grand jury were “still being processed” and were not immediately available Monday afternoon.

The news that a 6-year-old student shot his teacher during class at Richneck made headlines across the country and the world.

As the boy sat at his desk in his first grade classroom at about 2 p.m. that day, he suddenly pulled a gun out of his front hoodie pocket, pointed it at his teacher — seated at a reading table less than 10 feet away — and fired a single round.

The bullet went through Zwerner’s left hand — which she held up as the boy opened fire — and then struck her in the upper chest and shoulder, where it remains today. Police have called the shooting an intentional act.

Zwerner, of York County, managed to shuttle about 18 students out of the first grade classroom before seeking help at a school office.

Police Chief Steve Drew later said the 6-year-old used his mother’s handgun, a Taurus 9mm, in the shooting. She legally purchased the firearm in York County, with the boy bringing it to school in his backpack.

Newport News police detectives turned their case file over to Gwynn in late February. The file included several binders of interviews and other documents, surveillance footage from the school and body camera footage from responding officers.

It wasn’t clear what charges police detectives had recommended.

Gwynn has ruled out charging the 6-year-old, saying he’s too young to have formed the criminal intent necessary. But the prosecutor’s office has looked into the case — and possible charges against others — for the past six weeks.

Grand jurors got case Monday

On Monday morning, prosecutors took their case to a seven-member grand jury in Newport News Circuit Court, seeking direct indictments against Taylor.

The grand jury — which meets in private — returned two “true bills” by early afternoon, indicting Taylor on one felony and one misdemeanor count. Unlike regular trial juries that in Virginia have to be unanimous, grand juries act on majority rule.

Under the Virginia code section used to charge Taylor with felony child neglect, prosecutors contend she has shown a “reckless disregard” for the lives of others.

“Any parent, guardian, or other person responsible for the care of a child under the age of 18 whose willful act or omission in the care of such child was so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life is guilty of a Class 6 felony,” the statute says.

That’s punishable by up to five years behind bars.

The grand jury also indicted Taylor — at the prosecution’s request — on the misdemeanor charge of “allowing access to firearms by children.”

That is, she’s accused of “recklessly leaving a loaded, unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any child under the age of fourteen.”

That charge can be brought even if the child himself wasn’t hurt. The count is punishable by a year behind bars, bringing to six years the potential jail time Taylor faces.

But basic questions remain unanswered with the process.

If Taylor had been arrested by police under a traditional arrest warrant, Newport News magistrates would have likely required that probable cause for the crime — an outline of the evidence — be detailed in a publicly filed criminal complaint document.

But indictments filed in state Circuit Courts tend to be bare-bones documents, meaning the detailed evidence might only come out as the case against Taylor proceeds. The indictments against her, for example, are unlikely to spell out how police believe the 6-year-old gained access to his mother’s gun that day.

Gun was secured, mother’s lawyer says

Taylor hasn’t been arrested on the charges, with her defense attorney, James Ellenson, having said that prosecutors have agreed to allow him to take Taylor to turn herself in.

Ellenson said Taylor will be turning herself in later this week,” and declined further comment.

Ellenson has previously said his client strongly maintains she kept the gun secured by a trigger lock, a mechanism that prevents the weapon from being fired.

Moreover, Ellenson asserted that the handgun was stored on the top shelf of a bedroom closet. Taylor has “no idea” how the boy gained access to the gun on the day of the shooting, Ellenson said.

She has no prior criminal record, according to Ellenson and a check of local courts.

Special grand jury to investigate further

As far as the special grand jury to look further into the case, such a panel is allowed under Virginia law by the motion of the commonwealth’s attorney of a particular jurisdiction.

The top prosecutor in each district can ask for the special grand jury — of between seven to 11 citizen members — “to investigate and report on any condition that involves or tends to promote criminal activity.”

It wasn’t clear exactly what Newport News prosecutors are seeking to have the panel look into, and there’s no set time frame for how long such an investigation could take. But the special grand jury — which under law will convene in private — could file more indictments depending on what it finds.

“The safety and security of Newport News students is of utmost importance,” Gwynn added in the statement, saying the facts and the law will drive the decision. “If the special grand jury determines that additional persons are criminally responsible under the law, it can return additional indictments.”

As they investigate a case, special grand juries have the power to subpoena documents and compel people to testify under oath. Though witnesses can plead the Fifth — and decline to talk so as not to incriminate themselves — the procedure is a powerful investigatory tool to force witnesses to cooperate.

A special grand jury is authorized under law to issue a report of its findings, including “any recommendations that it may deem appropriate.”

“Such report shall be sealed and not open to public inspection, other than by order of the court,” the statute says, meaning a judge could unseal it at his or her discretion.

Lawsuit says assistant principal ignored warnings

In a lawsuit filed last week against the Newport News School Board and three administrators, Zwerner contends that Richneck Assistant Principal Ebony Parker ignored several stark warnings that the boy had a gun on him that day.

Two days before the shooting, the complaint says, the boy took and threw Zwerner’s cellphone, shattering the glass, leading to a one-day suspension.

The day of the shooting, the complaint says, Zwerner told Parker the boy was in a “violent mood” and had threatened to beat up a kindergartener during lunch. But Parker “had no response ... refusing even to look up at (Zwerner) when she expressed her concerns,” the complaint asserts.

During recess, Zwerner told a reading specialist and another teacher that she saw the 6-year-old taking something out of his backpack in the classroom. The reading specialist searched the boy’s pack — still in the classroom — but didn’t find a weapon.

But when that reading specialist approached Parker with concerns that the boy may be armed, the complaint contends, she replied the boy has little pockets that were too small to hold a gun.

The other first grade teacher pulled another student aside after recess and asked about a gun, with the complaint saying that the student tearfully admitted that the 6-year-old showed him a gun at recess.

That teacher called the school office, the complaint says, urgently telling a Richneck music teacher about the concerns. But when the music teacher approached Parker, the administrator said the boy’s backpack had already been searched.

When a guidance counselor sought permission to search the boy, the complaint says, Parker denied the request on the grounds that the 6-year-old’s mother would soon be picking him up.

The special grand jury will have its own discretion on what to investigate. But the newly convened panel would have the power to look into the conduct of school system officials as part of its investigation into whether other people should be charged.

“There were failures in accountability at multiple levels that led to Abby being shot and almost killed,” Diane Toscano, an attorney for Zwerner, said after the indictments were handed down Monday. “Today’s announcement addresses but one of those failures. It has been three months of investigation and still so many unanswered questions remain.”

Zwerner’s lawsuit asserts school administrators violated state law by failing to notify police of reports that the boy had a gun. “We will not allow school leaders to escape accountability for their role in this tragedy,” Toscano wrote.

Prosecutors said they will not speak further about the case except in the courtroom.

“The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all members of our community, particularly our children,” the news release said. The office said it will make no further comment so as not “to interfere with the fairness of a trial by jury.”

Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com