NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — 25-year-old Deja Taylor, the mother of the 6-year-old student accused in the Richneck Elementary School shooting, faces multiple federal charges just about a month after prosecutors charged the mother in Newport News Circuit Court.
According to court documents filed Monday, Taylor made a false claim on the firearms transaction form she filled out when she bought a 9mm handgun in 2022.
Section G of that form asks, "Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?"
Prosecutors said Taylor lied when she answered no, and that she was actually a marijuana user.
While marijuana is legal in Virginia, the form notes that "the use or possession of marijuana remains unlawful under Federal law regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where you reside."
Taylor's attorney, James Ellenson, said his client will plead guilty to the federal charges.
Newport News Police said Taylor's son used that same handgun to shoot his teacher Abby Zwerner in Richneck Elementary School on January 6.
Taylor is already criminally indicted on a charge of felony child neglect and a misdemeanor charge of endangering a child by reckless storage of a firearm. She has a bench trial coming up on August 15 in Newport News Circuit Court.
Legal analyst and Virginia Beach attorney, Ed Booth, said pleading guilty to the federal charges may help Taylor in this case.
"If you plead guilty, it does benefit you on your federal sentencing guidelines, and that really governs what someone might receive in terms of punishment in federal court," Booth said. "The guidelines cover everything and they take into account whether or not you take responsibility, so it certainly would help her if she were to be convicted."
Booth said because Taylor now faces charges in both Newport News and federal court for different reasons, the cases will likely be treated separately. However, he said it's unclear right now if prosecutors will use the information about her federal charges in her upcoming trial in Newport News.
"On the most basic level, from an evidentiary perspective: anyone who has been convicted of a felony, if they testify in a case, which she is not required to do, that could be used to impeach them by the prosecution. They can be asked about their felony convictions," Booth explained. "In a sense, it's apples and oranges, but they do overlap with the basic facts that it has to do with the same firearm."
Right now, Taylor is the only person in the Richneck Elementary shooting investigation who faces charges.
Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney, Howard Gwynn, said more people could face charges if the special grand jury finds enough evidence to support it.