Former assistant principal Ebony J. Parker of Richneck Elementary School in Virginia, where a 6-year-old shot his teacher last year, has been indicted on eight counts of felony child neglect. Photo courtesy of Newport News Public Schools
April 9 (UPI) — A former school administrator at a Virginia elementary school, where a 6-year-old shot his teacher last year, has been indicted on multiple counts of felony child neglect.
The indictments were unsealed Tuesday by a court order after a special grand jury in Newport News charged Ebony J. Parker, who was the former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary School, with eight counts of felony child neglect for showing “a reckless disregard for human life.” Each count, issued March 11, is punishable by up to five years in prison.
“Being a person responsible for the care of students under the age of 18 at Richneck Elementary School,” the indictments say, Parker committed “a willful act or omission in the care of such students” that was “so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life.”
Teacher Abigail Zwerner was shot and injured by a first grader in her class on Jan. 6, 2023. The bullet from the gun he brought from home went through her left hand and struck her in the chest.
The boy’s mother, Deja Taylor, pleaded guilty to felony child neglect and was sentenced in November to 21 months in prison for the federal charges.
Zwerner has filed a $40 million lawsuit against the school district. She claims Parker, 39, ignored three warnings that the boy had a gun and “was in a violent mood.”
According to the lawsuit, Zwerner told Parker that the boy had threatened to beat up a kindergartner, adding that Parker “had no response, refusing even to look up when she expressed her concerns.”
The lawsuit also says a reading specialist told Parker that the boy had told other students he had a gun, to which she replied that his pockets were “too small to carry a firearm.”
A teacher later called the school office after a student reported the 6-year-old showed him the gun during recess. The lawsuit says Parker replied that the boy’s bag “had already been searched.”
“These charges are very serious and underscore the failure of the school district to act to prevent the tragic shooting of Abby Zwerner,” attorneys Diane Toscano, Kevin Biniazan and Jeffrey Breit said in a statement.
“The school board continues to deny their responsibility to Abby, and this indictment is just another brick in the wall of mounting failures and gross negligence in their case.”