Mother of 6-year-old Richneck shooter charged; prosecutors look to further investigate security issues
NEWPORT NEWS — A Newport News grand jury on Monday indicted the mother of the 6-year-old boy who shot his first grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School three months ago.
Deja Nicole Taylor, 25, of Newport News — whose son shot 25-year-old teacher Abby Zwerner during class Jan. 6 — was charged with felony child neglect and a misdemeanor count of recklessly leaving a firearm so as to endanger a child.
Newport News prosecutors also asked a Circuit Court judge to impanel a special grand jury to “continue the investigation into any security issues that may have contributed to this shooting.” This could include looking at Richneck administrators, the school system and others.
Such a probe could take months — and could lead to more indictments.
“Their investigation will continue as long as necessary to determine whether others are criminally responsible for the shooting of January 6,” the Newport News commonwealth’s attorney’s office wrote in a news release Monday afternoon.
