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Jury selection started Monday in the criminal trial of a former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school. She stands accused of failing to act on multiple warnings that a 6-year-old student had brought a loaded handgun to school, which the boy later used to shoot his first-grade teacher.
Ebony Parker faces eight counts of felony child neglect: one count for each bullet in the handgun the child carried into Richneck Elementary School in Newport News in January 2023. Each count carries a potential penalty of up to five years in prison. Prosecutors allege Parker committed a “willful act or omission” in the care of students “in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life.”
The case stems from the shooting of teacher Abby Zwerner, who was struck in the chest and hand while seated at a reading table in her classroom. Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, underwent six surgeries, and has not regained full use of her left hand. A bullet remains lodged in her chest after narrowly missing her heart. Despite her injuries, she helped evacuate her students before collapsing in the school office.
In a related civil lawsuit last year, a jury awarded Zwerner $10 million, finding that Parker ignored repeated warnings from staff members that the boy had a gun in his backpack. Zwerner is expected to testify in the criminal trial. Parker’s attorneys previously argued in the civil case that the shooting was “unforeseeable” and that she had no legal duty to protect Zwerner.
Criminal charges against school administrators following shootings remain rare. The boy’s mother was later sentenced to nearly four years in prison on felony child neglect charges and federal weapons violations. The child reportedly told authorities he retrieved the gun from his mother’s purse by climbing onto a dresser.
