Judge Dismisses Charges Against Former Virginia School Official in Shooting Case

A Virginia judge dismissed all criminal charges Thursday against Ebony Parker, the former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary School, who faced felony child neglect accusations related to a January 2023 shooting. The incident involved a 6-year-old student who shot and seriously wounded his first-grade teacher, Abby Zwerner, in Newport News.

Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson struck down all eight counts against Parker, which prosecutors had linked to each bullet fired by the student. “The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime, not under the common law of Virginia, nor under the code of Virginia,” Robinson stated before dismissing the charges. She emphasized that her ruling was based solely on legal principles.

Prosecutors alleged that Parker ignored repeated warnings from school employees who believed the child had a firearm in his backpack. Special prosecutor Josh Jenkins said Parker failed to search the child, call the police, or separate the student from others despite multiple alerts. Jenkins noted that the school’s policy required crisis situations to be reported to an administrator who must take action. However, Parker reportedly denied a school counselor’s request to search the child, citing that only security officers or administrators could conduct searches. At the time, the school’s security officer was assigned elsewhere, and Parker did not inform the principal.

Defense attorney Curtis Rogers argued that teachers were responsible for taking action if they suspected a gun and that Parker’s actions did not indicate she believed the child possessed a firearm. Rogers said the teachers could have separated the child from classmates. Another defense attorney, Stephen Teague, expressed relief at the dismissal, calling it the right outcome.

Parker did not testify during the trial, but a video interview from three days after the shooting was shown to the jury. In it, Parker said she was informed about the gun reports but could not leave her office due to testing. A reading specialist searched the backpack but found no gun. Parker said the student’s mother was expected to arrive to pick him up and check his belongings.

Teacher Abby Zwerner testified that the student had been acting out and appeared “violent” on the day of the shooting. She recalled the child wearing an oversized jacket and keeping both hands in his pockets during recess and in the classroom, where the shooting occurred. Zwerner spent nearly two weeks hospitalized, underwent six surgeries, and still cannot fully use her left hand. A bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains lodged in her chest.

Last November, a civil jury awarded Zwerner $10 million, finding Parker liable for ignoring warning signs. Zwerner no longer works at the school. Her attorneys released a statement emphasizing their focus on civil justice and noting the city’s continued resistance to accepting responsibility.

The student’s mother, Deja Taylor, was arrested after the shooting on felony child neglect and federal weapons charges. She was sentenced in 2023 to two years in prison for child neglect and 21 months for the federal charges.

Criminal charges against school officials in such cases are rare, experts say. The shooting drew national attention and raised questions about how a young child accessed a gun and harmed a teacher.