Mother of 6-Year-Old Who Shot Teacher in Virginia Pleads Guilty to Gun Charges

The mother of a 6-year-old who shot his first-grade teacher in a Virginia classroom pleaded guilty on Monday to federal criminal charges for using marijuana while owning a firearm, and making false statements about drug use when she bought the gun.

The mother, Deja Taylor, was previously indicted by a grand jury in Virginia on state criminal charges of neglect and endangerment, in connection with her son’s access to the handgun that he used in the shooting.

This time, the federal authorities focused on her purchase and ownership of the gun, which, she acknowledged in her plea on Monday, was illegal given the extent of her marijuana use. Although recreational marijuana is allowed in Virginia, federal laws prohibit addicted or “unlawful” drug users from owning a gun.

The charges, which came last week, are the latest development in a case that has drawn national attention amid charged debates over guns and school safety. The January shooting in a first-grade classroom in Newport News, Va., stunned the community because of the child’s age and raised questions about the school’s response and the boy’s access to the weapon.

The teacher, Abigail Zwerner, had been in the middle of a routine lesson when, the police said, the boy pulled out the gun, aimed it at her and fired. A single bullet passed through her hand and struck her chest; she was seriously injured but survived.

The child has not been charged.

According to court documents filed on Monday, federal agents searched a garbage bin at Ms. Taylor’s home days after the shooting and “found copious amounts of marijuana, and packaging for marijuana edibles.” They later found marijuana in Ms. Taylor’s purse and in a bedroom of a home where she had been staying with her mother. Prosecutors said Ms. Taylor had admitted “that her chronic use of marijuana was not recreational, and it affected her behavior.”

In July 2022, when Ms. Taylor bought the gun from Winfree Firearms in Yorktown, Va., she checked a box on a form to indicate that she was not “an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug or any other controlled substance,” according to court documents.

That assertion led to last week’s federal charges of making a false statement while purchasing a firearm, and unlawfully using a controlled substance while owning a gun.

Initially, the police said that the weapon was legally purchased by Ms. Taylor. A lawyer for the family, James Ellenson, has said that the gun was stored on a top shelf of the mother’s bedroom closet and had a trigger lock.

Gene Rossi, also a lawyer for Ms. Taylor, said on Monday that the case was “a perfect storm of horrible consequences.”

He added that sentencing for the federal charges was expected in October, and that both sides had agreed that punishment would not exceed a 24-month prison sentence. Prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The trial on the state charges is expected to start in August.

“Her role in this tragedy is a complete mistake and an accident,” Mr. Rossi said. “However, she accepts all responsibility for her son’s actions and has tremendous guilt over what happened.”