Global Courant 2023-04-15 00:04:16
The mother of a 6-year-old Virginia boy who shot and injured his teacher had suffered a series of miscarriages and postpartum depression in the year before the shooting, her lawyer said Friday, after being charged with child neglect and failure to safely dispose of the gun. claiming that her son used in the shooting.
Police say the boy fired a single shot at his first-grade teacher, Abigail Zwerner, on January 6, hitting her in the left hand and chest. She spent two weeks in the hospital and had four surgeries since the shooting.
The Associated Press is not identifying the mother to protect her son’s identity. A grand jury indicted the mother this week and she was released on $5,000 bail after turning herself in Thursday.
The 25-year-old woman looked glum and stood with her hands clasped behind her back as the two charges against her were read in Newport News Circuit Court. She did not speak except to say “no, sir” in response to a question from the judge. After the hearing, she quickly walked away from a tangle of reporters and TV cameras without comment.
Her attorney, James Ellenson, said his client wants to plead with prosecutors and hopes they will consider what he called “extenuating circumstances.” He mentioned a number of miscarriages the woman had had, including one following an ectopic pregnancy that resulted in hospitalization in January 2022. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a pregnancy develops outside the uterus, often in a fallopian tube. Ellenson said the miscarriages resulted in postpartum depression.
6-YEAR-OLD USED MAMA’S GUN TO SHOOT TEACHER IN VIRGINIA; POLICE REVEAL HEROIC ACTIONS AFTER SHOT
“We look forward to working with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office to resolve the charges,” Ellenson said, adding that he hopes for “something fair, something just.”
Ellenson has requested a trial before a judge instead of a jury. A trial date of August 15 has been set.
Misdemeanor neglect carries a prison sentence of up to five years. Reckless storage of a firearm carries a prison sentence of up to one year.
Police watch as students return to Richneck Elementary in Newport News, Virginia on January 30, 2023. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, File)
Ellenson has said the mother believed her gun, which had been purchased legally, was mounted on a top shelf in her closet and had a trigger. It is unclear how the boy obtained the gun and was able to take it to school on the day of the shooting.
Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit against the school system last week, accusing school officials of gross negligence and ignoring multiple warnings from teachers and others in the hours before the shooting that the boy had a gun.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The city’s prosecutor’s office said Tuesday it is investigating whether the “act or omission” of school staff could lead to criminal charges.
Ellenson said the boy has an “acute disability” and was under a care plan where his mother, father or grandfather accompanied him to class every day. The week of the shooting was the first that a parent was not in his class.
