A judge has dismissed charges against a former assistant principal of a Virginia elementary school who was accused of disregarding reports that a 6-year-old student had a gun at school — a gun that was later used to shoot his teacher.
Ebony Parker went on trial this week, charged with eight counts of felony child neglect in connection to the January 2023 shooting of first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner in Newport News, Virginia. Each count represented one of the bullets in the loaded gun a child brought to the school.
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On Thursday, the trial judge granted a defense motion to dismiss the case, saying some of the issues debated in the trial were “legal theories.”
The judge added that new laws would be required to make Parker’s failure to act a crime.
Parker broke down in the courtroom after the judge dismissed her charges, but she declined to answer questions from reporters as she left the courthouse, according to WTKR-TV of Newport News.
Zwerner’s aunt, Karen Piere, released a statement calling for more accountability for school officials.
“We are happy that this tragic event is behind Abby,” the statement said, according to WTKR. “As devastating as this shooting was, may it bring change to the education system in our country so that violent children are not placed in a general education classroom, and I hope that administrators are held accountable if this were to happen again for violent behavior.”
History of the case
Zwerner was critically injured on Jan. 6, 2023, when a bullet fired by a student in her class went through her hand and penetrated her chest, nearly killing her, according to testimony in a civil suit that she filed against school officials.
In her lawsuit, Zwerner alleged that Parker ignored “at least three separate warnings from teachers and staff that students had seen the firearm” and that the student had “removed an object that was likely a firearm from his backpack before it was searched.”
Numerous school instructors testified to the claim and noted the weapon wasn’t taken from the child until after he shot Zwerner in the hand and chest.
In November, a judge and jury awarded $10 million in damages to Zwerner.
The shooter’s mother, Deja Taylor, was convicted of child neglect in 2023 for allowing her son to access the gun he used to wound Zwerner. She was also convicted on a federal charge of lying about her marijuana use when she filled out a background check form to buy the gun. She was sentenced to nearly four years in prison.
Parker was the only school official to face criminal charges in connection to the shooting. In opening statements in the criminal trial, Parker’s attorney blamed Zwerner and other teachers for not taking action to take the gun away from the child before the shooting.
The significance of Parker’s case
Parker is apparently the first school official to face criminal charges over a school shooting.
However, in recent years, authorities have begun charging parents of school shooters, alleging they could have or should have prevented their children from carrying out violent attacks.
In Michigan, Jennifer and James Crumbley were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison after a jury convicted them of involuntary manslaughter for failing to stop their son, Ethan, from killing four students at his high school in 2021.
Earlier this year, a Georgia man, Colin Gray, was convicted of 27 felony counts in connection with a shooting that killed two students and two teachers at his son’s high school. His son, Colt Gray, is facing murder charges.
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