The mom of a 6-year-old boy who shot his trainer in Virginia pleaded responsible in federal court docket Monday to utilizing marijuana whereas possessing a firearm, which is prohibited underneath U.S. legislation.
It’s a criminal offense underneath federal legislation that’s going through rising scrutiny as extra states legalize the drug. Deja Taylor is accused of mendacity about her marijuana use on a kind when she purchased the gun, which her son later used to shoot Abby Zwerner in her classroom in Newport News. The first-grade trainer was significantly wounded and has endured a number of surgical procedures.
Taylor’s attorneys agreed to a negotiated plea settlement with prosecutors that requires a sentence of 18 months to 24 months in jail. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 18.
The federal case in opposition to Taylor is separate from the costs she faces on the state degree: felony little one neglect and reckless storage of a firearm. A trial for these counts is about for August.
Both circumstances are among the many repercussions that adopted the January capturing, which shook the town of Newport News close to the Atlantic Coast.
The federal prices in opposition to Taylor, 25, seem like comparatively uncommon. And the case comes at a time when marijuana is authorized in lots of U.S. states, together with Virginia.
Marijuana continues to be a managed substance underneath U.S. legislation and is strictly regulated by federal authorities. Court paperwork don’t element precisely how federal investigators constructed their case in opposition to Taylor, who got here underneath intense scrutiny after the capturing.
Federal authorities allege Taylor knew “she was an unlawful user” of marijuana when she purchased the gun final yr and denied her use on the shape, court docket paperwork acknowledged.
Federal legislation typically prohibits individuals from possessing firearms if they’ve been convicted of a felony, been dedicated to a psychological establishment or are an illegal person of a managed substance, amongst different issues.
In current years, there’s been debate over the usage of assets to aggressively pursue individuals who give false info on background test kinds.
In 2018, a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office discovered that authorities prosecute “a small percentage of individuals” who falsify info on a kind and are denied a purchase order.
The race of those that are prosecuted is one other concern, stated Karen O’Keefe, director of state insurance policies for the pro-legalization group Marijuana Policy Project.
In fiscal yr 2021, 56% of the roughly 7,500 individuals convicted of breaking the legislation had been Black, O’Keefe stated, citing statistics from the United States Sentencing Commission. She didn’t have a breakdown for convictions associated to marijuana or different drug use.
“About 18% of Americans admitted to using cannabis in the last year and about 40% owned guns,” O’Keefe added. “And so there’s an enormous pool of people that are presumably breaking this law every day and face up to 15 years in prison if they were caught.”
The federal case in opposition to Taylor, who’s Black, carries as much as 25 years, though sentencing tips name for 18 months to 24 months in jail, her attorneys stated. She faces as much as six years in jail if she is convicted on the state prices.
Zwerner was shot within the hand and chest as she sat at a studying desk at Richneck Elementary. She spent practically two weeks within the hospital and later informed NBC she generally “ can’t get up out of bed.”
Zwerner is suing the college system for $40 million.
The lawyer for Taylor within the state case, James Ellenson, has stated Taylor believed her gun was secured on a excessive closet shelf with a set off lock earlier than the capturing occurred. He stated final month it was nonetheless unclear how the boy received the gun.
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