mother of boy who shot teacher Abby Zwerner charged
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Mother of Boy Who Shot Virginia Teacher Charged In Connection To Case

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The mother of a six-year-old boy who shot his teacher Abby Zwerner has been criminally charged with the case.

RELATED STORIES: Newport News Police Reveal Boy Used His Mother’s Gun To Shoot Teacher Abby Zwerner

Deja Taylor, 25, is facing a count of felony child neglect and one misdemeanor count of recklessly leaving a firearm to endanger a child, as reported by the Washington Post. Authorities confirmed in a report that the gun used in the January shooting belonged to Taylor. Previously, an attorney for the boy’s family said in an interview that the gun was stored with a trigger look on the top shelf of Taylor’s bedroom closet. However, it is unclear how her son accessed the weapon.

‘There were failures in accountability at multiple levels that led to Abby being shot and almost killed. Today’s announcement addresses but one of those failures. It has been three months of investigation, and still, so many unanswered questions remain. Our lawsuit makes clear that we believe the school division violated state law, and we are pursuing this in civil court,’ said Zwerner’s attorney, Diane Toscano.  As previously reported, Zwerner filed a  $40 million lawsuit last week against Richneck School administrators and superintendent for failing to notice the signs of the boy’s behavior, accusing them of gross negligence.

RELATED STORIES: Virginia Teacher Shot By Six-Year-Old Student Sues School District For $40 Million

Newport News commonwealth attorney Howard Gwynn said in a statement that he had asked a judge to impanel a special grand jury to continue investigating other security issues that might have contributed to the shooting. “The safety and security of Newport News students is of utmost importance. The Special Grand Jury will investigate to determine whether additional charges against additional persons are justified by the facts and the law”, he said.

Taylor’s attorney, James Ellenson, said his client will be “turning herself in later this week.”

Social media users reacted to the latest charges and asked why the boy’s father wasn’t charged.

After news of the criminal charges against Taylor, Twitter users asked why wasn’t the boy father charged with the gun, although authorities said the weapon was purchased legally. One user wrote, “Wonder why just the mother? Was the father not involved in the student’s life?” Prior to the shooting, Taylor and her son’s father supervised him during the school day as part of his behavior plan.

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