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Her 6-year-old son shot his teacher, now a Virginia woman faces sentencing for child neglect

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Her 6-year-old son shot his teacher, now a Virginia woman faces sentencing for child neglect


NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — The mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in Virginia is expected to be sentenced Friday for felony child neglect, nearly a year after her son used her gun to critically wound the educator.

Deja Taylor faces up to five years behind bars, but as part of a plea deal, prosecutors said they will recommend a six-month sentence that falls within state guidelines.

A judge will ultimately decide Taylor’s punishment at court hearing scheduled for 1 p.m.

Taylor’s son told authorities he got his mother’s 9mm handgun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mom’s purse. He concealed the weapon in his backpack and then his pocket before shooting his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in front of her first-grade class.

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CORRECTS SPELLING OF LAST NAME TO ZWERNER, NOT ZWERNERA - Abby Zwerner, a teacher shot by her 6-year-old student, attends a hearing for a civil lawsuit she filed against the Newport News Public Schools, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023 in Newport News, Va. Zwerner is suing the public schools for $40 million. Her lawyers are expected to ask the judge to allow her lawsuit to proceed. The school board is expected to argue for workers’ compensation. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP)

Taylor initially told investigators she had secured her gun with a trigger lock, but investigators said they never found one.

Friday’s sentencing will be the second time Taylor is held to account for the classroom shooting, which stunned the nation and shook the military shipbuilding city of Newport News.

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Taylor was sentenced in November to 21 months in federal prison for using marijuana while owning a gun, which is illegal under U.S. law. Investigators found nearly an ounce of marijuana in Taylor’s bedroom following the shooting. She later pleaded guilty.

Taylor also pleaded guilty to the felony neglect charge on the state level. As part of that plea deal, local prosecutors agreed to drop a misdemeanor count of recklessly storing a firearm.

James Ellenson, one of Taylor’s attorneys, said earlier this year there were “ mitigating circumstances ” surrounding the situation, including Taylor’s miscarriages and postpartum depression. She also has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition sharing symptoms with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to court documents.

Taylor told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in May that she feels responsible and apologized to Zwerner.

“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.

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During her sentencing in federal court last month, one of Taylor’s attorneys read aloud a brief statement in which Taylor said she would feel remorse “for the rest of my life.”

The bullet fired from Taylor’s gun struck Zwerner in the left hand and her upper left chest, breaking bones and puncturing a lung. The teacher rushed her other students into the hallway before collapsing in the school’s office.

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.

Zwerner told the judge during Taylor’s federal sentencing 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.

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Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and has endured five surgeries to restore motion to her left hand. She struggles to put on clothes or tie shoes.

She is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, alleging that administrators ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun. She told the federal judge she has lost a sense of herself and suffered “massive financial loss.”

Zwerner no longer works for the school system and is no longer teaching. She said she loves children but is now scared to work with them.

She attends therapy and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, while also suffering from depression and anxiety.

“I contend daily with deep emotional scars,” Zwerner said.

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Virginia State Police respond to call of shots fired at I-64 rest area

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Virginia State Police respond to call of shots fired at I-64 rest area


ALBEMARLE COUNTY — Virginia State Police and Albemarle County Police responded Wednesday morning to a rest area on Interstate 64 for an emergency call concerning gunshots being fired, according to state police.

The incident took place at an eastbound rest area near mile marker 105 in Albemarle County.

As of 8:30 a.m., authorities had cleared the facility and found no evidence of a shooting having taken place, police said.

The rest area will be re-opening shortly, police said Wednesday morning.

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Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on X (formerly Twitter).



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Projected winners in Maryland's 6th District

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Projected winners in Maryland's 6th District


This week’s primaries are ovah, so we’re calling it a night! Here are the most important races where ABC News has reported a projection:

Maryland’s Senate matchup is set. In the GOP primary, former Gov. Larry Hogan easily dispatched his primary opposition, giving Republicans their best possible nominee for what will still be a very tough general election in deep-blue Maryland. In the Democratic primary, meanwhile, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks edged out Rep. David Trone in an expensive, hard-fought race. She now has the chance to become just the third Black woman elected to the Senate in U.S. history.

– In Maryland’s 3rd District, state Sen. Sarah Elfreth won the very crowded Democratic primary, defeating Harry Dunn, the former Capitol Hill police officer who helped defend the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Given the district’s blue lean, Elfreth should win in November, adding more women to the House, where women are still just 29 percent of its members.

– Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won the Republican primary for West Virginia governor in a close race over former state Del. Moore Capito. He’s heavily favored to win in November in this red state and will likely be a hardline conservative governor, as he’s associated with the tea party wing of the party.

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– In the GOP primary for West Virginia senator, Gov. Jim Justice easily defeated Rep. Alex Mooney, carrying all but four counties in exurban Washington, D.C. Justice will be heavily favored to win the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who announced his retirement last year.

– In the Republican primary for West Virginia’s 1st District, incumbent Rep. Carol Miller fended off a far-right challenge from former state Sen. Derrick Evans, who’d previously served three months in jail after being found guilty in a case related to the Jan. 6 insurrection. She’ll be favored to comfortably hold on to her seat in November.

– In the Republican primary for West Virginia’s 2nd District, state Treasurer Riley Moore romped to victory over several other GOP candidates vying to succeed Mooney (who ran for Senate). Moore is the nephew of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and the grandson of former Gov. Arch Moore; he’ll be a shoo-in this fall for the deeply Republican seat.

– In Maryland’s 6th District, which was vacated by Trone for his ill-fated Senate bid, Democrats went with a familiar name in their primary: April McClain Delaney, a former Biden administration official whose husband, John Delaney, held this seat for six years before Trone. On the Republican side, voters once again expressed their support for Neil Parrott, a local lawmaker who was the GOP nominee in 2020 and 2022. Delaney will be favored in the general election, but this is a seat that could get competitive under the right circumstances for Republicans.

– In Maryland’s 2nd District, Democratic voters nominated Baltimore County Executive John “Johnny O” Olszewski Jr. to face off against Republican political commentator and frequent political candidate Kimberly Klacik. Biden won general election voters in this district 59 to 39 percent in 2020, so it’s highly likely Johnny O will be the next representative of this northern-Baltimore seat.

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– In Nebraska’s 2nd District, Rep. Don Bacon easily turned back a primary challenge from right-wing Republican Dan Frei. That’s bad news for Democrats, who would’ve had a much easier time beating Frei than Bacon in November in this swing seat.

—G. Elliott Morris, Monica Potts, Nathaniel Rakich and Geoffrey Skelley, 538; Meredith Conroy, 538 contributor; and Jacob Rubashkin, Inside Elections



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Polls are now closed in West Virginia

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Polls are now closed in West Virginia


As Nathaniel mentioned earlier, West Virginia’s 1st Congressional District’s Republican primary has a candidate, Evans, who served three months in jail after filming himself storming the Capitol on Jan. 6. His performance in the district, which includes the state capital city of Charleston, will be a good illustration of where the party is when it comes to how important election denialism remains. Evans apologized for his actions in court, but after leaving jail, he began calling himself a “J6 patriot.”

This evolution mirrors what has happened in the Republican Party, as GOP primary voters have become less likely to believe Trump is to blame for Jan. 6, more swayed by conspiracy theories about the insurrection and less likely to say Biden was legitimately elected, according to a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll from the third anniversary. As Mary mentioned earlier, Democrats are much more worried about a repeat of the insurrection and worried that democracy in the U.S. is in peril.

So far there’s only about 3 percent of the vote reporting, and Miller has opened up with a lead with 65 percent of the vote. But if Evans upsets the race and pulls out a win over the incumbent Miller, who has also shown unwavering support for Trump, his actions on that day are unlikely hurt him in this deep red district.

—Monica Potts, 538

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