Ex-Assistant Principal Faces Trial for Child Abuse in Teacher Shooting Case

A previous assistant principal, Ebony Parker, appeared in court on Monday to face a criminal trial linked to the 2023 shooting of a first-grade teacher by a 6-year-old student. Parker is charged with eight counts of child abuse and neglect due to the January 6, 2023 incident at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, where the child shot teacher Abigail Zwerner in the hand and chest. Parker resigned after the shooting occurred.

Last year, a jury awarded Zwerner $10 million, holding Parker accountable for dismissing warning signs about the child possessing a weapon. Parker, who formerly served as the vice principal of the school, now faces criminal charges related to the event.

In 2024, a grand jury indicted Parker on eight child abuse charges, each carrying a possible five-year prison sentence. The 31-page indictment details Parker’s alleged failure to protect the 15 children in Zwerner’s class, despite numerous alerts from staff and students about the child’s potential threat on the day of the shooting.

Zwerner’s legal representatives argued that another child witnessed the shooter with the gun during recess and reported it to a teacher. When a search of the child was proposed, Parker reportedly refused the request.

The shooter’s mother, Deja Taylor, was sentenced to two years in prison in 2023 for neglect and will begin serving her state sentence after completing 21 months on a connected federal charge. Her federal charge stemmed from illegally using marijuana while owning a firearm.

In last year’s trial for gross negligence against Parker, two teachers testified about informing Parker that students noticed the gun in the child’s backpack. Zwerner’s attorneys emphasized that school protocols required Parker to act on reported threats. Parker’s defense claimed she neither had a legal obligation to protect Zwerner nor voluntarily agreed to offer such protection.

The current trial is set to last three days. An acquittal could potentially safeguard Zwerner’s $10 million civil settlement, which is to be compensated by the Virginia Risk Sharing Association (VRSA), an insurance group comprising various public entities, including the Newport News School Board. A conviction of Parker might enable insurers to contest paying Zwerner. If guilty, Parker might face up to 40 years in prison.