NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – According to court records obtained by 10 On Your Side, documents in the $40 million lawsuit first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner filed against the city of Newport News will be kept private.
Both Zwerner’s and the City’s attorneys have agreed to keep all documents, evidence, and the investigative file sealed for the duration of the criminal investigation and court case against Deja Taylor. Taylor is the mother of the 6-year-old who police say shot Zwerner in her classroom at Richneck Elementary School on Jan. 6.
Taylor has been charged both at the state and federal levels. Taylor pleaded guilty to the federal charges of being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm and making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm earlier this week.
This decision to keep the information private was reached as to not impede the criminal case if information were to leak from the civil case. With the information remaining sealed, both cases can continue simultaneously.
The $40 million civil lawsuit which Zwerner filed in early April alleges that the school board and three former administrators practiced gross negligence and failed to protect her from the shooting. The lawsuit also alleges that the shooting was a personal attack against Zwerner.
Meanwhile this week, WAVY obtained an email exchange between Newport News Public Schools and Zwerner where she wrote that she would not be returning to Richneck Elementary, writing, “I wish to resign. Thank you.”
