A Newport News judge dismissed the case against a former Richneck Elementary School assistant principal accused of failing to act when told a 6-year-old had a gun that he later used to shoot his teacher.
Circuit Court Judge Rebecca M. Robinson dismissed the case Thursday morning on the fourth day of the trial against Ebony Parker. Parker was facing eight counts of child neglect — one for each of the bullets in the gun the boy had with him on Jan. 6, 2023, the day of the shooting.
Robinson said that she was presented with a “mashup” of legal theory and current state statute was not clear on whether Parker committed a crime. She said it would be up to the Virginia General Assembly to write new laws or clarify existing law.
Parker broke into tears after the judge said she was dismissing the case, according to video shared by our media partners at WTKR.
Parker, 41, was indicted by a special grand jury in 2023. Prosecutors argued that Richneck’s policy book stated that only an administrator or school resource officer is allowed to search a student for a gun.
Several people alerted Parker that they were concerned he had a gun, according to court testimony. That included Abby Zwerner, the teacher who would be shot by the boy later that day. But Parker did not act on those reports.
Zwerner raised her left hand as the gun was fired. The bullet went through her hand and into her chest, causing her lung to collapse. Last fall, she won a $10 million civil trial against Parker. That verdict has been appealed.
Jurors were selected in Parker’s criminal trial on Monday and opening statements began Tuesday. The state rested its case Thursday morning.
That’s when Robinson took up a request from Parker’s attorney, Curtis Rogers, to have the charges dismissed. He argued that the state had not presented enough evidence about individual potential victims, nor that Parker was willfully negligent, according to video of the proceedings from CourtTV.
He said that everyone who reported the child to Parker had concerns, but did not act as if he had a weapon.
“Based on information that Dr. Parker had, she made decisions — in hindsight, those decisions were determined to not be the correct decisions — but her decision wasn’t an act of neglect,” Rogers argued in court. “It was just a lapse of judgment. Somebody makes a mistake, that should not result in felony allegations or felony convictions.”
Hampton Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Joshua Jenkins, the case’s special prosecutor, argued that there were about 20 students in the classroom who could have been victims if the boy’s gun had not jammed and he continued to fire.
He also said that Parker received multiple warnings about an armed student and whether he had a toy or a knife, school policy should have been followed to protect others at the school. While she didn’t act maliciously, she should have known that by not doing anything, others could have been injured, he argued.
The shooting made national headlines. The boy was not criminally charged, but his mother was convicted on state and federal charges in connection with the shooting.
Richneck Elementary is part of Newport News Public Schools, a member of the Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association, which holds WHRO’s license.
