As part of a deal with prosecutors, the mother of a 6-year-old boy who carried a gun to school and shot his first-grade teacher in January in Newport News, Virginia, will admit guilt to additional federal felonies, according to her attorney.
Deja Taylor, a 26-year-old mother, is accused of making a false statement when buying a firearm, specifically a semiautomatic handgun, and of using a controlled substance unlawfully while in possession of a firearm, according to the federal complaint.
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Her attorney, James Ellenson, said Taylor’s guilty plea was an “agreed procedure which eliminated the need for the government to take the case to a grand jury.”
“Our action follows very constructive negotiations we had with federal authorities. The terms of the agreement, which we believe to be fair to all parties, will be disclosed when we enter the guilty plea,” Ellenson said.
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Taylor will enter her guilty plea later this week or next week, according to Ellenson’s statement. He added that he planned to submit “mitigating evidence” and thanked the US attorney’s office for “its good faith participation in discussions.”
In addition to the federal charges, Taylor has also been indicted on one count of recklessly leaving a handgun to endanger a child and two counts of criminal child negligence.
About five months have passed since the incident at Richneck Elementary School, where a 6-year-old student shot his teacher, Abigail Zwerner, 25, resulting in federal charges. She was wounded in the hand and the chest, yet she lived.
The child will not be criminally charged, Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney Howard Gwynn has said. Prosecutors allege when Taylor purchased the handgun, she “knowingly made a false and fictitious statement” to a licensed firearms dealer, according to the federal complaint filed Monday.
