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Only 2 years, how disappointing.Different case, different state and different charges, one victim & nobody dead but anyway. .....
December 2023
mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in Virginia was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for felony child neglect, nearly a year after her son used her gun to critically wound the educator.
The state sentence she received Friday from Circuit Court Judge Christopher Papile was stiffer than what is called for in state sentencing guideline
Taylor's son told authorities he got his mother's 9mm handgun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mom's purse. He concealed the weapon in his backpack and then his pocket before shooting his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in front of her first-grade class.
Kovac told police the boy said, "I shot that b**** dead" while he was being restrained. He also said, "I got my mom's gun last night," according to Kovac.
Taylor initially told investigators she had secured her gun with a trigger lock, but investigators said they never found one.
Taylor pleaded guilty earlier this year to the felony neglect charge. As part of that plea deal, local prosecutors agreed to drop a misdemeanor count of recklessly storing a firearm.
James Ellenson, one of Taylor's attorneys, said earlier this year there were " mitigating circumstances " surrounding the situation, including Taylor's miscarriages and postpartum depression. She also has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition sharing symptoms with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to court documents.
Taylor told ABC's "Good Morning America" in May that she feels responsible and apologized to Zwerner.
"That is my son, so I am, as a parent, obviously willing to take responsibility for him because he can't take responsibility for himself," Taylor said. During her sentencing in federal court last month, one of Taylor's attorneys read aloud a brief statement in which Taylor said she would feel remorse "for the rest of my life."
The school teacher .... is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, alleging administrators ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun.View attachment 480823
Deja Taylor, mother of 6-year-old who shot Virginia teacher Abby Zwerner, gets 2 years in prison for child neglect
Deja Taylor has now been sentenced twice for the classroom shooting, which stunned the nation and shook the city of Newport News.www.cbsnews.com
Yet according to Smith, JC is a "super vigilant" and "helicopter parent".I think this is a clear case of hindsight being 20:20.
We all know families--or had friends growing up--who were different, melodramatic, self-centered, or just on a different mental or emotional level. But the odds that one of their kids becomes a mass shooter is infinitesimally small. It always seems so easy to look back and point out "red flags," but most of the time, those antics are put down to growing pains or kids being kids.
And in the vast, VAST majority of those cases -- that's all it is -- something the kid will grow out of.
I think it was poor judgment on JC's part to buy EC a gun, but lots of kids grow up around guns and know how to shoot and would never shoot another human.
No one ever knows what a jury would do, but I would find her not guilty. I don't like her, and I think she is self-centered and was mostly an absentee parent. But, I didn't see anything that could justify finding her guilty.
All MOO.
I laugh at the helicopter parent reference. Ok, she checked his online homework portal, but parenting ended with screaming at him because he was missing assignments. How about asking him why he was missing assessments, was he overwhelmed with the classes, what did he need to be successful, did he need a tutor, etc. But nope, suck it up kid.Yet according to Smith, JC is a "super vigilant" and "helicopter parent".
It's up to the jury do decide if JC was an SV mom who was always looking out for danger or was a mom who was "self-centered" and "mostly an absent parent" who neglected all of her son's warnings that he was mentally suffering and needed professional help.
What has been stated during the trial and here is that JC was a mom who was afraid her son would do something "dumb" or "stupid".
So what was her reasoning for that fear?
Hopefully the jury picks a foreperson who was/is meticulous.
I do feel that Smith was highly offensive, especially during her closing and did JC no favors making light of JC's actions and lack of actions by comparing her to herself and all other mothers.
Different case, different state and different charges, one victim & nobody dead but anyway. .....
December 2023
mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in Virginia was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for felony child neglect, nearly a year after her son used her gun to critically wound the educator.
The state sentence she received Friday from Circuit Court Judge Christopher Papile was stiffer than what is called for in state sentencing guideline
Taylor's son told authorities he got his mother's 9mm handgun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mom's purse. He concealed the weapon in his backpack and then his pocket before shooting his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in front of her first-grade class.
Kovac told police the boy said, "I shot that b**** dead" while he was being restrained. He also said, "I got my mom's gun last night," according to Kovac.
Taylor initially told investigators she had secured her gun with a trigger lock, but investigators said they never found one.
Taylor pleaded guilty earlier this year to the felony neglect charge. As part of that plea deal, local prosecutors agreed to drop a misdemeanor count of recklessly storing a firearm.
James Ellenson, one of Taylor's attorneys, said earlier this year there were " mitigating circumstances " surrounding the situation, including Taylor's miscarriages and postpartum depression. She also has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition sharing symptoms with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to court documents.
Taylor told ABC's "Good Morning America" in May that she feels responsible and apologized to Zwerner.
"That is my son, so I am, as a parent, obviously willing to take responsibility for him because he can't take responsibility for himself," Taylor said. During her sentencing in federal court last month, one of Taylor's attorneys read aloud a brief statement in which Taylor said she would feel remorse "for the rest of my life."
The school teacher .... is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, alleging administrators ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun.View attachment 480823
Deja Taylor, mother of 6-year-old who shot Virginia teacher Abby Zwerner, gets 2 years in prison for child neglect
Deja Taylor has now been sentenced twice for the classroom shooting, which stunned the nation and shook the city of Newport News.www.cbsnews.com
He was on his phone.I laugh at the helicopter parent reference. Ok, she checked his online homework portal, but parenting ended with screaming at him because he was missing assignments. How about asking him why he was missing assessments, was he overwhelmed with the classes, what did he need to be successful, did he need a tutor, etc. But nope, suck it up kid.
That was the fight mentioned that happened on the night of 11-29 and JC said she thought all was normal (whatever normal is to her) the next morning, the 30th.I laugh at the helicopter parent reference. Ok, she checked his online homework portal, but parenting ended with screaming at him because he was missing assignments. How about asking him why he was missing assessments, was he overwhelmed with the classes, what did he need to be successful, did he need a tutor, etc. But nope, suck it up kid.
JC testified that she hardly looked at it.It’s so painful to see the video of EC’s parents arriving at the school counselor office on November 30, and seeing EC walk out of that room alone going back to class. How can you be more blatant in begging for help than in writing “help me,” drawing a gun, bullet, etc. on his math paper?!?
But nope, his parents just ignored it, like they ignored all of his other signs of troubles. Such betrayal. Such a tragic result.
I wish I hadn’t stumbled across this trial.
Thanks yes. Some members had posted about what the sentences might be if JC was found guilty but I was having a hard time finding MI sentencing guidelines for Involuntary Manslaughter or examples of past cases in Michigan involving parents, kids and injuries/deaths.VA - Boy, 6, in custody after shooting teacher, Newport News, Jan 2023 *mom charged* #3
OH WOW (though not surprised in the least) I hope karma comes for these two women.www.websleuths.com
WRT to the "sesiously freaking out texts". If she's a helicopter parent, why didn't she know what time Ethan got home from school, even though it's March?IzzyLizzy,
I got that wrong. I came across the CCTV again and it was wrong of me to say ' thrust'
On second viewing of the CCTV, she passes it back to her husband after he's put his jacket on.
( Just shows how easy it is to be sure of something which didn't happen)
Anyway, I'm still stuck on her 'seriously freaking out ' texts, March 2021 ( Last couple of pages of last thread)
What had EC said or done that made her panic that he was a few minutes late and 'he might do something stupid'
James doesn't reply ' what do you mean by something stupid?'
Had EC made a threat to himself or others?
I just feel that there's so much we don't know and so much evidence that didn't come into trial. ( maybe more will come out in James' trial which is coming soon?)
She seems to be saying, in the time-stamped texts, that she does know his ETA and he's out by just a few minutes. That's how I interpreted it but I may be wrong.WRT to the "sesiously freaking out texts". If she's a helicopter parent, why didn't she know what time Ethan got home from school, even though it's March?