The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in Virginia is set to be sentenced for felony child neglect on Friday, nearly a year after her son used her gun to critically wound the teacher. Deja Taylor faces up to five years in prison, but prosecutors have agreed to recommend a six-month sentence that is within state guidelines as part of a plea deal.
Deja Taylor will be sentenced on Friday for the second time
Taylor’s son told authorities that he obtained his mother’s 9mm handgun by climbing onto a drawer and climbing to the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mother’s purse.
He hid the weapon in his backpack and then his pocket before shooting his first-grade teacher, Abby Zwerner, in front of her class.
Taylor initially told investigators that she had secured her gun with a trigger lock, but no such lock was found.
Taylor will be sentenced on Friday for the second time for the classroom shooting, which stunned the nation and shook the military shipbuilding city of Newport News.
Taylor was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison in November for using marijuana while possessing a firearm, which is illegal under US law.
Following the shooting, investigators discovered nearly an ounce of marijuana in Taylor’s bedroom.
She later entered a guilty plea.
Taylor also pleaded guilty on the state level to felony neglect. Local prosecutors agreed to drop a misdemeanor count of recklessly storing a firearm as part of the plea agreement.
One of Taylor’s attorneys, James Ellenson, stated earlier this year that there were ” mitigating circumstances” surrounding the situation, including Taylor’s miscarriages and postpartum depression.
According to court documents, she has also been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition that shares symptoms with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
“That is my son, so I am, as a parent, obviously willing to take responsibility.”
Taylor expressed regret and apologized to Zwerner on ABC’s “Good Morning America” in May.
“That is my son, so I am, as a parent, obviously willing to take responsibility for him because he can’t take responsibility for himself,” Taylor said.
During Taylor’s sentencing hearing in federal court last month, one of her attorneys read aloud a brief statement in which Taylor expressed regret “for the rest of my life.”
Taylor’s bullet struck Zwerner in the left hand and upper left chest, breaking bones and puncturing a lung.
Before collapsing in the school’s office, the teacher rushed her other students into the hallway.
The 6-year-old who shot Zwerner told a reading specialist who restrained him, “I shot that (expletive) dead,” and “I got my mom’s gun last night,” according to search warrants.
During Taylor’s federal sentencing, Zwerner told the judge that she remembers losing consciousness while medics worked on her.
“I was not sure whether it would be my final moment on earth,” Zwerner said.
Zwerner was in the hospital for nearly two weeks and had five surgeries to restore motion to her left hand. She has difficulty putting on clothes or tying her shoes.
She is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, claiming that administrators ignored multiple warnings that the boy possessed a firearm. She admitted to the federal judge that she had lost her sense of self and had suffered “massive financial loss.”
Zwerner is no longer employed by the school system and no longer teaches. She stated that she adores children but is now terrified of working with them.
She goes to therapy and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as depression and anxiety.
“I live with deep emotional scars every day,” Zwerner explained.
