NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Lives changed forever the day a 6-year-old boy got his hands on a gun and brought it to Richneck Elementary School in Newport News.
Investigators said the first-grader shot his teacher Abby Zwerner on January 6, 2023. His mother, Deja Taylor, now sits in a prison cell and she no longer plans to fight her sentence.
Taylor’s attorney, James Ellenson, said while he believes the state sentence Taylor received for her role in the Richneck shooting is unfair, he said the appeal process would take longer than the time Taylor has to serve.
Taylor is serving a two-year sentence at Western Tide Water Regional Jail for a felony child neglect charge. After that, Ellenson said she will serve a 21-month sentence in a federal prison for using marijuana while owning a gun. She could get out around the fall of 2027.
“Federal time will allow her to do a lot of programs and so she will probably won’t have to do the full 21 months,” Ellenson said.
Investigators said the boy used Taylor’s gun to shoot Zwerner last January. In court in December, a Newport News judge ruled that even though Taylor did not pull the trigger, she is liable for the “reckless decision” that led to the shooting.
Ellenson said he thinks the state sentence is unfair because the guidelines called for six months.
“It certainly is an unfortunate turn of events, but at the end of the day she is guilty really of what she was guilty of which was not taking good care of the gun,” Ellenson said.
At the federal sentencing, Taylor’s attorneys read a letter she wrote the judge, saying she was remorseful for her actions leading up to the shooting and she would have to live with this regret for the rest of her life. He said he thinks the federal prison will give Taylor access to rehabilitation services.
“The state doesn’t really have the resources that the federal system would have. And so the substance abuse and mental health treatment and all of that is probably going to have to wait until she gets to the federal facility.”
Ellenson also said Taylor could see her son if his guardian decided to bring him to visit.