Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article reported that Deja Taylor could have no contact with her son until he was 18. It has now been updated to say that she cannot have unsupervised visitation with her son until he’s 18.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY/AP) — The mother of a child who was 6 years old when he shot his teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News on Jan. 6 was sentenced Friday. Deja Taylor was given two years to serve in prison, for felony child neglect.
Taylor won’t be able to have any unsupervised visits with her child until he’s 18 years old; he is currently 7.
Deja Taylor was sentenced to five years behind bars, with three years suspended. This leaves her with two years to serve. Prosecutors had recommended a plea deal with a much lighter sentence of six months.
Taylor was also sentenced in November to 21 months in federal prison for using marijuana while owning a gun, which is illegal under U.S. law. Investigators found nearly an ounce of marijuana in Taylor’s bedroom following the shooting. She later pleaded guilty. In light of the latest sentencing, she will now serve two additional years following the end of her 21 months.
Taylor also pleaded guilty to the felony neglect charge on the state level. As part of that plea deal, local prosecutors agreed to drop a misdemeanor count of recklessly storing a firearm.
Taylor’s son told authorities he got his mother’s 9mm handgun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mom’s purse. He concealed the weapon in his backpack and then his pocket before shooting his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in front of her first-grade class.
Taylor initially told investigators she had secured her gun with a trigger lock, but investigators said they never found one.
Friday’s sentencing was the second time Taylor was held to account for the classroom shooting, which stunned the nation and shook the military shipbuilding city of Newport News.
James Ellenson, one of Taylor’s attorneys, said earlier this year there were “mitigating circumstances” surrounding the situation, including Taylor’s miscarriages and postpartum depression. She also has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition sharing symptoms with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, according to court documents.
Taylor told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in May that she feels responsible and apologized to Zwerner.
“That is my son, so I am, as a parent, obviously willing to take responsibility for him because he can’t take responsibility for himself,” Taylor said.
During her sentencing in federal court last month, one of Taylor’s attorneys read aloud a brief statement in which Taylor said she would feel remorse “for the rest of my life.”
The bullet fired from Taylor’s gun struck Zwerner in the left hand and her upper left chest, breaking bones and puncturing a lung. The teacher rushed her other students into the hallway before collapsing in the school’s office.
The child who shot Zwerner told a reading specialist who restrained him, “I shot that (expletive) dead,” and “I got my mom’s gun last night,” according to search warrants.
Zwerner told the judge during Taylor’s federal sentencing that she remembers losing consciousness while medics worked on her.
“I was not sure whether it would be my final moment on earth,” Zwerner said.
Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and has endured multiple surgeries to restore motion to her left hand. She struggles to put on clothes or tie shoes.
She is suing Newport News Public Schools for $40 million, alleging that administrators ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun. She told the federal judge she has lost a sense of herself and suffered “massive financial loss.”
Zwerner no longer works for the school system and is no longer teaching. She said she loves children but is now scared to work with them.
She attends therapy and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, while also suffering from depression and anxiety.
“I contend daily with deep emotional scars,” Zwerner said.
Deja Taylor’s grandfather, Calvin Taylor, now has custody of her 7-year-old son.
Taylor will have two years supervised probation when she is released.
And her attorney, Ellenson, said he was aware of the stipulation that Taylor would not be able to have any unsupervised visits with her son until he was 18.
“It is upon Mr. Taylor’s discretion,” Ellenson said. “She can have contact, but it cannot be unsupervised, and that is until he is 18.”
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.