The mother of a 6-year-old boy who in Virginia pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of felony child neglect, seven months after her son used her handgun to critically wound the educator in a classroom full of students.
Prosecutors agreed to drop a misdemeanor charge of reckless storage of a firearm against Deja Taylor. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors said they will not seek seek a sentence that is longer than state sentencing guidelines, which call for six months in jail or prison. A judge will have full discretion and will ultimately decide the length of Taylor鈥檚 sentence. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 27.
Taylor with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor count of recklessly storing of a firearm.
The January shooting and near the Chesapeake Bay. The case against Taylor is one of three legal efforts seeking accountability, including the teacher鈥檚 that accuses the school system of gross negligence for failing to respond aggressively to multiple warnings that the child had a gun at school on the day of the shooting.
Police said the first grader as she sat at a reading table during a lesson. Zwerner, , spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and has endured multiple surgeries.
Moments after the shooting, filed in the case, the child told a reading specialist who restrained him: 鈥淚 shot that (expletive) dead,鈥� and 鈥淚 got my mom鈥檚 gun last night.鈥�
Police said the student brought the gun to school in his backpack, but it had been unclear exactly how the 6-year-old got the gun.
During Taylor鈥檚 plea hearing Tuesday, prosecutor Joshua Jenkins said the boy told authorities he got the gun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the gun was stored in his mother鈥檚 purse. Those details were contained in a 鈥渟tipulation of facts,鈥� a list of facts that both sides agree are true.
When police arrived at the school that day, they entered the classroom and saw the boy being restrained by the reading specialist, according to the stipulation of facts document read aloud by the prosecutor.
The boy used a profanity and said 鈥淚 shot my teacher,鈥� before breaking free and punching the reading specialist in the face, the document states.
The gun was on the floor nearby. 鈥淢y mom had that. 鈥�.I stole it because I needed to shoot my teacher,鈥� the boy said, according to the document.
The document said the boy had been diagnosed with a defiance disorder. He had previously taken his mother鈥檚 car keys from her purse, which prompted her to put her keys in a lock box. But she continued to keep her gun in her purse, the document states.
Taylor told police she believed the gun was in her purse, secured with a trigger lock, according to search warrants. She said she kept the gunlock key under her bedroom mattress. But agents with Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said they never found a trigger lock after conducting searches, according to federal court documents. The stipulation of facts also said there was no gun safe or trigger lock found during searches by authorities.
Taylor did not speak during the plea hearing except to answer questions from the judge about whether she understood the proceeding. She spoke softly and was asked by the judge to raise her voice.
In June, Taylor pleaded guilty in a to using marijuana while possessing a firearm, which is illegal under U.S. law.
Taylor鈥檚 attorney, James Ellenson, said in April including her miscarriages and postpartum depression before the shooting. Ellenson said Tuesday he will address depression and anxiety issues at Taylor鈥檚 sentencing hearing.
Taylor told ABC鈥檚 鈥淕ood Morning America鈥� in May and apologized to Zwerner.
鈥淭hat is my son, so I am, as a parent, obviously willing to take responsibility for him because he can鈥檛 take responsibility for himself,鈥� Taylor said.
Her son has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and was under a care plan that included a family member accompanying him to class every day, Ellenson said.
The week of the shooting was the first when a parent was not in class with him. The change was made because the boy had started medication and was meeting his goals academically, Taylor said.
鈥淚 just truly would like to apologize,鈥� Taylor said on the show.
Virginia鈥檚 law on felony child neglect says any parent, guardian or other person responsible for the care of a child 鈥渨hose willful act or omission in the care of such child was so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life鈥� is guilty of a Class 6 felony.
Ellenson said in court Tuesday that the boy is now in the care of his great-grandfather.
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