Criminal case dismissed against former assistant principal over shooting of teacher by student
A Virginia judge has granted a defense motion to dismiss the criminal charges against a former assistant principal stemming from the 2023 shooting of a teacher by a 6-year-old student.
Ebony Parker was charged with eight counts of felony child abuse with disregard for life in connection with the January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News -- one count for each bullet that was unspent in the gun, according to the Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
"The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime," Circuit Court Judge Rebecca Robinson said Thursday, following two days of testimony in the criminal trial.
"What happened that day was awful, that's agreed upon by all," the judge later said.
Parker had her head bent over and appeared to be sobbing after the judge dismissed the case.
Prosecutors in the criminal trial alleged that Parker failed to respond and follow school protocol after several staffers raised concerns that the student, identified in the trial as JT, had a gun. The Commonwealth rested on Wednesday after two days of calling witnesses.
Defense attorney Curtis Rogers argued before the judge Thursday morning that Parker may have had a "lapse of judgment" that day, but she didn't act criminally and there was "no willful admission on her part to put these children in harm."
"Nobody acted as if there was an actual firearm. Not following school policy doesn't result in a criminal allegation," Rogers said. "There are acts that should have been done, definitely in hindsight."
Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Josh Jenkins argued that Parker knew of the danger in the school that day.
"There were multiple warnings she received from multiple people that there was an armed student," he said.
"Just the mere fact that a possible weapon is on campus should have triggered the response defined in the crisis management plan, yet it did not," he said.
Parker pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The dismissal of the criminal trial comes after a jury in a civil trial found that Parker acted with gross negligence in the shooting and awarded the injured teacher, Abby Zwerner, $10 million in damages.
Zwerner's attorneys said Thursday's decision by the judge means Newport News can no longer use the criminal charges against Parker to "deny insurance coverage" in her civil case.
"One of the many obstacles the City of Newport News placed in Abby Zwerner's path to justice was their argument they could deny insurance coverage in our civil case because of possible criminal conduct," Zwerner's attorneys said in a joint statement Thursday. "Today that is no longer an excuse that the City can hide behind."
"This was always the Commonwealth's criminal case -- not Abby's civil case. Abby complied with the subpoena requiring her testimony once again, despite the emotional toll of repeatedly reliving this tragedy," the statement continued. "From the beginning, our focus has remained on obtaining justice in civil court for the preventable failures that led to Abby being shot. A Newport News jury has already spoken, returning a $10 million verdict in Abby's favor."
Zwerner, the first witness in the trial, testified that she had told Parker prior to the shooting in her classroom that JT "seemed to be off" that day and "in a violent mood." She said another staffer, reading specialist Amy Kovac, alerted her that JT told other students he had brought a gun to school, and that Kovac reported that to the administration.
Zwerner said that in hindsight, she could have separated JT from the other students and confirmed that she was responsible for the safety of her students. Though she said her understanding that a crisis or emergency needed to be brought to the attention of the administration, and that she trusted her colleagues.
The bullet went through Zwerner's left hand, which she had lifted, and then into her chest. She was initially hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Zwerner and Parker both resigned following the shooting.
The student brought the gun from home, police said. His mother, Deja Taylor, was sentenced to two years in state prison after pleading guilty to child neglect in connection with the shooting. She also pleaded guilty to using marijuana while in possession of a firearm and making a false statement about her drug use during the purchase of the firearm used in the shooting and was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.
She was released from state custody on May 13 and transitioned to community supervision, according to online Virginia Department of Corrections records.
