Mother of 6-year-old boy who shot his Virginia teacher faces two new federal charges

Deja Taylor, the mother of the 6-year-old Richneck Elementary School student who shot his teacher earlier this year, now faces federal firearms possession charges. She was charged with being an illegal user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm and making a false statement while purchasing a firearm.

The new charges follow felony charges filed in April charging Taylor with child endangerment and neglect.

Taylor “knowingly made a false and fictitious written statement to Winfree Firearms,” a gun store in Grafton, Virginia, where he purchased a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, according to court documents filed with the Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Court documents indicate that Deja Taylor, the mother of the 6-year-old boy who police say shot Richneck Elementary School teacher Abby Zwerner, faces federal charges of unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm.https://t.co/MMZOjwC3Vo

— WCBD News 2 (@WCBD) June 6, 2023

The documents also allege that Taylor falsely stated on application forms from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that he did not use marijuana despite using the drug illegally.

Although marijuana is legal in Virginia, the form notes that the use or possession of marijuana remains illegal under federal law, regardless of whether it has been legalized or decriminalized for medicinal or recreational purposes in the state where she resides”.

Taylor is already criminally charged with felony child neglect and misdemeanor endangerment of a child by reckless storage of a firearm.

Taylor's son shot first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner on Jan. 6 inside her classroom at Richneck Elementary School.

While the boy was not charged in connection with the shooting, a grand jury returned an indictment charging his mother with “felony child neglect and misdemeanor recklessly leaving behind a loaded firearm to put in danger to a child”.