Mom of 6-Year-Old Who Shot Virginia Teacher Sentenced to 21 Months In Prison

The mother pleaded guilty to two felonies in June; the 6-year-old boy has not been charged in the shooting

The mother of a 6-year-old boy who was accused of shooting his teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Virginia earlier this year was sentenced to nearly two years in prison.

Deja Taylor was charged with using marijuana while in possession of a firearm and making a false statement about her drug use when she purchased the firearm, ABC News reported. She will serve 21 months in prison for the federal charges that she pleaded guilty to in June.

According to the outlet, Taylor’s weapon had also been fired in a prior incident—where police were not called. Taylor had shot at her son’s father after seeing his girlfriend, according to text messages between the boy’s parents. There were no injuries.

Prosecutors said in court filings that “not once, but twice someone nearly lost their lives because of Taylor’s offenses of conviction.”

Taylor was also referred to as a “marijuana abuser, whose chronic, persistent and, indeed, life-affecting abuse extends this case far beyond any occasional and/or recreational use,” according to court filings.

The 6-year-old boy bragged about shooting his teacher Abigail “Abby” Zwerner back in January, BBC News reported. The outlet noted that unsealed court documents revealed that the young boy said, “I [shot] her dead.” Zwerner, who survived, was wounded in the hand and chest.

“Not only do I bear physical scars from the shooting that will remain with me forever, I contend daily with deep, psychological scars that plague me during most waking moments and invade my dreams,” Zwerner said during the sentencing hearing.

Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit against the school district accusing it of negligence because the boy apparently had a “history of random violence.” According to BBC News, a retired educator said the boy had choked “her to the point she could not breathe” when he was in kindergarten.

After the shooting, The Washington Post reported the boy confessed to another teacher, Amy Kovac, that “he had gotten his mom’s gun the night before and put it in his backpack.”

The boy has not been charged.