NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A $40 million lawsuit filed on behalf of Abby Zwerner, the former Richneck Elementary School teacher who was shot by her then-6-year-old student back in 2023, can proceed against one of the school’s former leaders, according to our newsgathering partner The Virginian-Pilot.
The civil suit initially listed three defendants who held leadership positions within the Newport News school district at the time of the shooting: Richneck Assistant Principal Ebony Parker, Superintendent Dr. George Parker and Richneck Principal Briana Foster-Newton.
Previous coverage: Two years after Richneck Elementary shooting Abby Zwerner 'is not going to stop fighting'
This week, a judge tossed the claims against Dr. George Parker and Foster-Newton, but ruled that “the allegations (about Ebony Parker) …are sufficient” to proceed to trial, per the Pilot’s reporting.
The three no longer hold the positions they had when the shooting happened in January of 2023: Ebony Parker resigned a few weeks after the shooting and Dr. George Parker was fired by the school board. In 2023, school officials told News 3 Foster-Newton was still employed by the district and was being reassigned.
The Newport News School Board was also initially named as a defendant. However, Zwerner’s team dropped the board as a defendant, the Pilot reports, following "a recent Virginia Supreme Court decision that determined that school boards hold wide-ranging sovereign immunity from personal injury claims."
Watch: Extended interview with Abby Zwerner one year since Richneck classroom shooting
News 3 spoke with Zwerner’s attorneys earlier this year on Jan. 6, two years after her first-grade student shot her. The bullet passed through her hand, pierced her chest, and caused significant injuries, including a collapsed lung.
Zwerner continues to grapple with the lasting impacts of that day, according to her legal team.
"This has been a difficult two years. She's still trying to figure out what's next for her, and as we’re in the middle of fighting Newport News, it makes it hard to move on,” said Diane Toscano, one of her attorneys.
The suit accuses Parker of gross negligence for allegedly ignoring multiple warnings on the day of the shooting that the boy had a gun and was in a “violent mood.”
Following the judge's ruling, Zwerner's legal team shared the following statement with News 3:
“Abby Zwerner’s catastrophic injuries will now be addressed by a Newport News jury. The trial judge has correctly ruled that the assistant principal must face the consequences of her grossly negligent dereliction of duty that resulted in Abby’s life being forever altered. We look forward to having the jury listen to the evidence and awarding appropriate damages for an incident that was avoidable and caused by the school administration’s failures on that fateful morning.”-Attorneys Diane Toscano and Jeffrey Breit
The case will be heard by a jury this fall, the Pilot reports.
Ebony Parker is also facing criminal charges of felony child abuse in connection to the shooting. That case is set to go forward in November.
Deja Taylor, the mother of the student who shot Zwerner, is currently serving a sentence for two federal charges: using illegal drugs while possessing a gun and lying about her drug use when purchasing the gun. She was also found guilty of a state charge of felony child neglect. Taylor pleaded guilty to both the federal and state charges.
