The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in Virginia is expected to plead guilty in federal court Monday to using marijuana while in possession of a firearm, which is illegal under US law.
Deja Taylor is accused of lying about her marijuana use on a form when she bought the gun, which her son later used to shoot Abby Zwerner in her classroom. The first grade teacher was seriously injured and has had multiple surgeries.
The federal case against Taylor is separate from the charges he faces at the state level: felony child neglect and reckless storage of a firearm. A trial on those charges is scheduled for August.
Both cases are among the fallout that followed the January shooting, which rocked the city of Newport News, near the Atlantic coast.
Federal charges against Taylor, 25, appear to be relatively rare. And the case comes at a time when marijuana is legal in many US states, including Virginia.
Marijuana remains a controlled substance under US law and is strictly regulated by federal authorities. The court documents do not detail exactly how federal investigators built their case against Taylor, who came under intense scrutiny after the shooting.
Federal authorities allege that Taylor knew she “was an illegal user” of marijuana when she bought the gun last year and denied its use on the form, according to court documents.
Federal law generally prohibits people from possessing firearms if they have been convicted of a felony, committed to a mental institution, or are an illegal user of a controlled substance, among other things.
In recent years, there has been a debate about using resources to aggressively go after people who provide false information on background check forms.
In 2018, a report from the US Government Accountability Office found that authorities prosecute “a small percentage of people” who falsify information on a form and are denied a purchase.
The race of defendants is another concern, said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policy for the pro-legalization group Marijuana Policy Project.
In fiscal year 2021, 56% of the roughly 7,500 people convicted of breaking the law were black, O’Keefe said, citing statistics from the United States Sentencing Commission. He did not have a breakdown of convictions related to the use of marijuana or other drugs.
“About 18% of Americans admitted to using cannabis in the past year, and about 40% owned guns,” O’Keefe added. “So there is a huge group of people who are allegedly breaking this law every day and face up to 15 years in prison if caught.”
The federal case against Taylor, who is black, takes up to 25 years, although sentencing guidelines call for 18 to 24 months in prison, her lawyers reported. She faces up to six years in prison if she is found guilty of the state charges.
Zwerner was shot in the hand and chest while sitting at a reading table at Richneck Elementary. She was hospitalized for almost two weeks.
Zwerner is suing the school system for $40 million.
Taylor’s attorney in the state case, James Ellenson, said the defendant believed her gun was secured on a high shelf in a closet with a trigger lock before the shooting occurred. He said last month it was still unclear how the boy got the gun.
