Story perspectives

School Administrator Faces Trial After $10M Shooting Verdict

5/18/2026

Summary

Story summary

Ebony Parker, the first school administrator charged for a student-perpetrated shooting, is on trial in Newport News, Virginia on felony child-abuse counts from the Jan. 6 2023 shooting of teacher Abigail Zwerner, and has pleaded not guilty.
A 2022 jury awarded Zwerner $10 million, finding Parker liable for ignoring three warnings the child had a gun.
The boy took the gun from his mother Deja Taylor’s purse; she received a felony child-neglect sentence.

History

Historical Context

The April 20 1999 Columbine massacre, in which 13 students and a teacher were killed, spurred nationwide school-security reforms and zero-tolerance policies. Decades later, the 2023 trial of administrator Ebony Parker in Newport News, Virginia, held her criminally responsible for a student’s shooting of teacher Abigail Zwerner, extending the accountability framework born after Columbine.

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Story summary

Ebony Parker, the first school administrator charged for a student-perpetrated shooting, is on trial in Newport News, Virginia on felony child-abuse counts from the Jan. 6 2023 shooting of teacher Abigail Zwerner, and has pleaded not guilty.
A 2022 jury awarded Zwerner $10 million, finding Parker liable for ignoring three warnings the child had a gun.
The boy took the gun from his mother Deja Taylor’s purse; she received a felony child-neglect sentence.

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