On Wednesday’s episode of “Good Morning America,” ABC granted an exclusive interview to the mother of the 6-year-old who sh*t and k!lled his elementary school teacher in Newport News, Virginia.
In an interview with ABC’s Linsey Davis, Deja Taylor said that she takes full responsibility for the sh*oting as a parent and that she has apologized to her son’s teacher. “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.
In January, Taylor’s son, then age 6, f@tally shot his teacher, Abigail Zwerner. Richneck Elementary School teacher Zwerner, age 25, was wounded in the hand and chest but recovered. Taylor described her son as having ADHD, saying that while “some are able to have it at a very mild rate, he’s off the wall, doesn’t sit still – ever.”
The student’s “acute disability,” according to a statement made by his family, required that one of his parents regularly accompany him to school. According to Taylor, his relatives stopped coming to his classes the week of the shooting because “he had started medication” and “was meeting his goals academically.”
Taylor claimed her kid “actually really liked” Zwerner but was frustrated by the lack of attention he received from the teacher. According to Taylor, when Professor Zwerner instructed him to sit down in class, he “He threw his arms up, he said fine and when he threw his arms up, he knocked her phone out of her hand, on accident. And he got suspended for that.”
The links below will take you to additional coverage of the shooting:
- 5 Individuals Have Been Shot in an Apartment Complex on Girard Ave in Denver
- California County Pays $7.5 Million for Black Man’s Death After Deputy Shot Him
According to the lawsuit obtained by CNN, Zwerner filed suit against the school and the school board after the sh*oting, claiming that they had been aware of the student’s “history of random violence” and had had reason to be concerned about the presence of a firearm on the day of the sh*oting.
Davis twice questioned the family and the family attorney about how the child gained access to the firearm. The first time he was asked, James Ellenson, a family lawyer, responded, “Nobody knows.” Davis repeated his inquiry to Ellenson.
See the tweet below to see what the mother of the 6-year-old who soiled himself and k!lled his elementary school teacher had to say about the incident:
The mother of the 6-year-old who allegedly shot his teacher at an elementary school in Newport News, Virginia, spoke exclusively on ABC's "Good Morning America." https://t.co/0vBidw6uMC
— CNN (@CNN) May 10, 2023
“We’re not ready to discuss that at this point,” he said, adding, “I don’t know that any adult knows exactly how he got the gun.” According to what Ellenson told CNN in January, Taylor bought the rifle and put it on the top shelf of her bedroom closet, locked with a trigger lock.
According to the police report, the boy had the gun in his backpack while at school. In March, Howard Gwynn, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Newport News, said that the youngster will not be criminally charged.
In April, Taylor was arr*sted and charged with one count of recklessly leaving a handgun to endanger a child and one count of felony child neglect. While Taylor has not yet filed a plea, Ellenson has told CNN he hopes to negotiate a bargain on his behalf before trial begins.
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