Current:Home > NewsMother of 6-year-old boy who shot his Virginia teacher faces two new federal charges -ProfitLogic
Mother of 6-year-old boy who shot his Virginia teacher faces two new federal charges
View
Date:2025-04-14 06:55:29
The mother of a 6-year-old boy accused of shooting and seriously wounding his first-grade teacher earlier this year in Virginia faces two new federal charges, according to court documents filed on Monday.
Deja Taylor is accused of unlawfully using a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm and making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm. The new charges follow felony charges filed in April accusing Taylor of child neglect and endangerment.
Taylor "knowingly made a false and fictitious written statement to Winfree Firearms," a gun shop in Grafton, Va., from which she purchased a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, court documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia allege. The documents also allege that Taylor falsely claimed on Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives application forms that she did not use marijuana despite unlawfully using the drug.
Abby Zwerner, a 25-year-old teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, was shot in the hand and chest by a student on Jan. 6 as she sat at a reading table in her classroom. She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and has had four surgeries since the shooting.
While the boy was not charged in connection with the shooting, a grand jury returned an indictment charging his mother with "felony child neglect and misdemeanor recklessly leaving a loaded firearm so as to endanger a child," Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn said in April. Taylor will return to court in August to face those charges, CBS affiliate WTVR reported.
The boy used his mother's gun, police said, which had been purchased legally.
Family members said the gun was secured. They also noted the 6-year-old boy suffers from an acute disability.
Zwerner in April filed a $40 million lawsuit, accusing school officials of gross negligence for allegedly ignoring multiple warnings that the boy had a gun and was in a "violent mood" on the day of the shooting.
S. DevS. Dev is a news editor for CBSNews.com.
veryGood! (63)
Related
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- ASEAN defense chiefs call for immediate truce, aid corridor in Israel-Hamas war
- An eco trio, a surprising flautist and a very weird bird: It's the weekly news quiz
- Canadian man convicted of murder for killing 4 Muslim family members with his pickup
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
- Starbucks sued after California woman says 210-degree hot tea spilled on her in drive-thru
- What are breath-holding spells and why is my baby having them?
- Dollywood temporarily suspends park entry due to nearby wildfire
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- It's official: Oakland Athletics' move to Las Vegas unanimously approved by MLB owners
Ranking
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Scary TV truth: Spirited original British 'Ghosts UK' is better than American 'Ghosts'
- Kaitlin Armstrong found guilty in 2022 shooting death of cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson
- Israeli military says it's carrying out a precise and targeted ground operation in Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital
- Trump issues order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military
- New data: Over 100 elementary-aged children arrested in U.S. schools
- AP PHOTOS: Beef’s more than a way of life in Texas. It drives the economy and brings people together
- Artist, actor and restaurateur Mr. Chow on his driving creative force: 'To be true'
Recommendation
The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
Why 'The Suite Life' fans are reminding Cole, Dylan Sprouse about a TV dinner reservation
Central Park carriage driver charged with animal abuse after horse collapsed and died
College Football Playoff concert series to feature Jack Harlow, Latto and Jon Pardi
Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
Green Bay police officer will resign after pleading no contest to hitting a man with his squad car
Pastoralists have raised livestock in harsh climates for millennia. What can they teach us today?
'Laguna Beach' star Stephen Colletti gets engaged to reporter Alex Weaver: 'Yes! Forever'