Trial begins for former Virginia assistant principal Ebony Parker after 6-year-old student shot Richneck Elementary School teacher

Newport News, Virginia – Jury selection began Monday in the trial of a former Virginia assistant principal accused of ignoring warnings that a 6-year-old student brought a loaded gun to school that was later used to shoot his first-grade teacher.

Prosecutors said Ebony Parker is charged with eight counts of felony child neglect, one for each bullet in the gun that was brought into the classroom of Rechnick Elementary School teacher Abby Zwirner in Newport News in January 2023. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.

The charges allege that Parker “committed an intentional or negligent act in the care of these students, in a manner so gross, wanton and reprehensible as to demonstrate a reckless disregard for human life,” according to court documents.

Parker’s lawyers were in court Monday morning and could not be reached for comment on her defense. But her lawyers in a civil trial last year said the shooting was “unexpected.” They argued that Parker had no legal duty to protect Zwirner and told the jury in that case that “the law requires you to examine people’s decisions at the time they are made.”

Experts say criminal charges against school officials after school shootings are very rare. The shooting sent shockwaves through the military shipbuilding community and the country as a whole, with many wondering how a child so young could get a gun and shoot his teacher.

Last November, a jury awarded Zwirner $10 million, upholding her claims in a lawsuit that Parker ignored repeated warnings that the child had a gun.

Zwirner was shot while sitting at a reading table in her classroom. She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries, and cannot make full use of her left hand. A bullet missed her heart and remained in her chest.

Parker was the sole defendant in the lawsuit. The judge previously dismissed the district supervisor and the school principal as defendants.

The lawsuit said Parker had a duty to protect Zwirner and others from harm after telling him about the gun. Zwirner’s attorneys said Parker failed to act in the hours before the shooting after several school employees told her the student had a gun in his backpack.

Zwirner testified that she first heard about the gun from a reading specialist who was tipped off by students. The shooting happened a few hours later. Despite her injuries, Zwirner was able to get her students out of the classroom. I eventually passed out in the school office.

Zwirner is scheduled to testify in the criminal case, according to court records.

The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison on child neglect and federal weapons charges. Her son told authorities he climbed to the top of the dresser to retrieve the gun from his mother’s purse.