The former assistant principal of a school where a 6-year-old boy shot a teacher in Virginia stood trial after being accused of ignoring multiple warning signs before the shooting.
Jury selection began on Monday in the trial of Ebony Parker, the ex-vice principal of Richneck Elementary School in Newport News.
Parker was a school administrator on January 6, 2023, when a first grader brought a gun to her school and shot Abigail Zwerner in the hand and chest.
The ex-vice principal faces eight counts of child abuse and neglect, each of which is punishable by up to five years in prison, after she was charged in 2024.
According to NBC News, each charge was for every bullet inside the gun the student was wielding.
Parker pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the trial is expected to last three days.
Court documents alleged that Parker 'did commit a willful act or omission in the care of such students, in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life.'
Newport News police have said the student who shot Zwerner retrieved his mother's handgun from atop a dresser at home and brought the weapon to school concealed in a backpack.
Ebony Parker, the ex-vice principal of Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia appeared in court facing eight counts of child abuse and neglect in connection to a 2023 shooting where a first grader brought a gun to her school and shot Abigail Zwerner
Zwerner, who was shot in the chest and hand, was awarded $10million in November after last year’s gross negligence trial of Parker and is expected to testify in the criminal case
According to a 31-page grand jury report cited by NBC News, Parker ignored a series of warnings that school employees gave administrators before the shooting.
Zwerner was awarded $10million in November after last year’s gross negligence trial of Parker.
In that lawsuit, Zwerner detailed telling Parker that the boy was in a violent mood, had threatened to beat up a kindergartener, and stared down a security officer in the lunchroom.
It also alleged that Parker had no response, refusing even to look up when Zwerner expressed her concerns.
When concerns were raised that the child may have transferred the gun from his backpack to his pocket, Parker said his 'pockets were too small to hold a handgun and did nothing,' the lawsuit states.
A guidance counselor also asked Parker for permission to search the boy, but Parker forbade him and stated that John Doe's mother would be arriving soon to pick him up, the lawsuit stated.
Zwerner was sitting at a reading table in front of the class when the boy fired the gun, police said.
Zwerner was hospitalized for nearly two weeks after the shooting, required six surgeries and still does not have full use of her left hand. A bullet also remains in her chest
Zwerner testified in court that she thought she had died and gone to heaven after she was shot (Pictured: Zwerner with her mother)
She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and has endured multiple surgeries as well as ongoing emotional trauma, according to her lawsuit.
Zwerner also claimed to not have full use of her left hand. A bullet also remains in her chest.
The shooting also occurred on the student's first day back in the classroom after he was suspended for slamming Zwerner's phone.
Zwerner is expected to testify against Parker, her lawyers confirmed to the New York Post.
In last year's trial, she testified, noting that she thought she had died, believing that she was either on my way to heaven or in heaven.
The boy's mother, Deja Taylor, pleaded guilty to felony child neglect and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2023.
Criminal charges were never filed against the student. The Daily Mail has reached out to Zwerner and Parker's attorneys for comment.