Mother of 6-year-old who shot Va. teacher pleads guilty to gun charges

[Perknose]

"Deja Taylor, 26, of Newport News, Va., pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of being an illegal drug user while possessing a firearm and one count of falsely claiming she did not smoke marijuana on the background check form she filled out when she purchased the handgun her son used in the shooting. Federal law prohibits users of illegal drugs from possessing a firearm, and purchasers have to attest they are not drug users at the time they buy a gun.

But federal prosecutors wrote in a statement of facts filed with the plea deal that investigators found no lock box, trigger lock or trigger lock key during a search of Taylor’s residences following the shooting. Authorities did find a firearm barrel lock in a trash bag that had been filled a few weeks before the shooting at one of Taylor’s homes, according to the statement of facts."

^^^ Good!

 

[brycejones]

I feel like this is the right outcome but for the wrong legal reasons.

 

[UNCjigga]

While I’m glad she will be prosecuted as she is clearly liable for the shooting and injuries to this teacher, I still expect consequences for the school staff (particularly the assistant principal) as well.

I really hope this sets a precedent for parents of school shooters to properly store their firearms or else face consequences like Deja here.

 

[brycejones]

I really hope this sets a precedent for parents of school shooters to properly store their firearms or else face consequences like Deja here.

I don't see this as accomplishing that at all. They went after her for being a drug user. It had nothing to do with safe storage or being a responsible gun owner. That's why I like the outcome but not the law used to get there. It does nothing to lay the groundwork for accountability in the future.

 

[Moonbeam]

I don't see this as accomplishing that at all. They went after her for being a drug user. It had nothing to do with safe storage or being a responsible gun owner. That's why I like the outcome but not the law used to get there. It does nothing to lay the groundwork for accountability in the future.

I neither support nor condemn the use of drugs. I have used them long ago and no longer do. I have made an informed decision on the matter and am tempted but not hugely so to try them again to see if that changes my mind. The problem is that the effort to obtain them while easy as pie, is still too much effort to put in for me, my motivation being that weak.

 

[MrSquished]

I neither support nor condemn the use of drugs. I have used them long ago and no longer do. I have made an informed decision on the matter and am tempted but not hugely so to try them again to see if that changes my mind. The problem is that the effort to obtain them while easy as pie, is still too much effort to put in for me, my motivation being that weak.

I think you should try them again

 

[brycejones]

I think you should try them again

I think the evidence says he never stopped.

 

[Moonbeam]

I think you should try them again

Thank you for your kind wishes but when I took them long ago the carried me to a god-like conscious state and I never came down hence my lack of motivation.

I think the evidence says he never stopped.

Thank you for being perceptive enough to see my condition. In appreciation I have a gift for each of you to express the warmth you bring me:

 

[Sunburn74]

I feel like this is the right outcome but for the wrong legal reasons.

Right outcome but terrible reasoning. I would have thought they'd have gotten her for a host of other crimes (child endangerment at the very least). Society needs to see a parent get 40 years for this sort of thing before all those horrible parents out there start thinking about tightening things up.

 

[UNCjigga]

I don't see this as accomplishing that at all. They went after her for being a drug user. It had nothing to do with safe storage or being a responsible gun owner. That's why I like the outcome but not the law used to get there. It does nothing to lay the groundwork for accountability in the future.

Yeah, I didn’t want to make this about race—but I can guarantee you that law enforcement/DAs would never proceed this way against white parents abusing alcohol, OxyContin/opioids or meth in a similar situation (all worse than weed.) But I still think the facts of this case transcend any factors of race or drug use here—she was uniquely horrible as a parent and a gun owner in ways that have rarely been matched. The closest I can think of are the Crumbleys in Michigan, but they weren’t high all the time and are still being prosecuted.

 

[brycejones]

Yeah, I didn’t want to make this about race—but I can guarantee you that law enforcement/DAs would never proceed this way against white parents abusing alcohol, OxyContin/opioids or meth in a similar situation (all worse than weed.) But I still think the facts of this case transcend any factors of race or drug use here—she was uniquely horrible as a parent and a gun owner in ways that have rarely been matched. The closest I can think of are the Crumbleys in Michigan, but they weren’t high all the time and are still being prosecuted.

The Crumbleys are a better case for establishing some level of responsibility for parents.

 

[HomerJS]

Yeah, I didn’t want to make this about race—but I can guarantee you that law enforcement/DAs would never proceed this way against white parents abusing alcohol, OxyContin/opioids or meth in a similar situation (all worse than weed.) But I still think the facts of this case transcend any factors of race or drug use here—she was uniquely horrible as a parent and a gun owner in ways that have rarely been matched. The closest I can think of are the Crumbleys in Michigan, but they weren’t high all the time and are still being prosecuted.

I completely agree with you. However, gun owners need to start paying a price for irresponsible gun ownership.

 

[hal2kilo]

Well, she has resigned from her teaching job.

Teacher who was shot by 6-year-old student in Virginia has resigned, school officials say - WTOP News

The first-grade teacher who was shot by her 6-year-old student in Virginia has resigned from her position, school officials said Tuesday, more than two months after she sued the district for $40 million.

wtop.com

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Update .... must be a wonderful Hallmark family.

Prosecutors ask a judge to revoke bond of mother of Virginia boy who shot his first-grade teacher

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to revoke the bond for the mother of a Virginia boy who shot and wounded his first-grade teacher after she allegedly failed multiple drug tests while awaiting sentencing on felony charges.

 

[HomerJS]

Update .... must be a wonderful Hallmark family.

Prosecutors ask a judge to revoke bond of mother of Virginia boy who shot his first-grade teacher

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to revoke the bond for the mother of a Virginia boy who shot and wounded his first-grade teacher after she allegedly failed multiple drug tests while awaiting sentencing on felony charges.

Yet another perfectly capable gun owner.