Virginia woman with 6-year-old child who shot teacher is facing charges for the incident.

A Virginia grand jury has taken an encouraging step towards justice in the Newport News school shooting case, indicting the 6-year-old student's mother, Deja Taylor, on felony child neglect and a firearms charge. After teacher Abigail Zwerner was wounded by the student in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School on Jan. 6, this indictment serves as a strong reminder that parents can and will be held accountable for their role in gun-related crimes and mass shootings.



The Newport News prosecutor, Howard Gwynn, has said that the grand jury will continue to investigate the case, and consider whether additional charges are warranted. Gwynn remarked that “every criminal case is unique in its facts, and these facts support these charges, but our investigation into the shooting continues.”



The indictments of Taylor come in the wake of other cases where parents of children who commit gun crimes or mass shootings have been charged. Last month, a Michigan appeals court ruled in favor of prosecutors seeking to take the parents of school shooter Ethan Crumbley to trial on involuntary manslaughter charges. An Illinois father was also arraigned in February on charges that he helped his underage son obtain a gun used to kill seven people at a Fourth of July parade near Chicago.



The tragedy of Abigail Zwerner's shooting, as well as the other school shootings that have occurred with alarming frequency in the U.S., has prompted calls to strengthen gun regulation and safety measures. Zwerner last week filed a $40 million lawsuit against school administrators, alleging they ignored warnings from staff and pupils that the boy had a gun. School officials have confirmed that they had received warnings that the boy had a gun at school, but that a search of his belongings before the shooting had not turned up any weapon.



The indictments of Deja Taylor are a positive step towards increasing accountability for gun-related crimes and mass shootings in the U.S. By prosecuting Taylor, it is hoped that parents will think twice before leaving firearms unattended and accessible to their children.

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