NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — There have been hundreds of shootings in U.S. schools this century, but cases in elementary schools where the shooter is just 6 years old — like the Jan. 6, 2023 shooting of Abby Zwerner at Richneck Elementary — are almost unheard of.
Also rare are attempts by prosecutors to hold school administrators criminally accountable in school shootings. But this scenario will play itself out beginning May 18 when Dr. Ebony Parker, the former assistant principal at Richneck, faces eight counts of felony child neglect stemming from Zwerner's shooting.
A grand jury report from about a year after the shooting that nearly killed Zwerner outlines how Parker was aware of the child's violent tendencies and was informed at least three times on Jan. 6 that the student might have a gun.
Parker was found grossly negligent by a jury in Zwerner's civirl trial last year. But local defense attorney Eric Korslund told News 3 in our True Crime 757 podcast that the bar for a criminal conviction is much higher than the civil trial.
Given the rarity of the Ebony Parker case, News 3 took a look attempts to hold people other than the shooter accountable when they open fire in a school.
Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, Fla.: February 2018
Seventeen people were killed and another 17 were hurt when Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018 — considered the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.
Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 34 consecutive life sentences without parole.
The school resource officer present at the school during the shooting, Scot Peterson, was hit with 11 counts of child neglect, culpable negligence, and perjury charges. In June 2023, Peterson was found not guilty on all counts.
Oxford High School, Oxford, Mich: November 2021
Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time he opened fire in the school, killed four students and injured seven others. Crumbley was charged as an adult; he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Crumbley's parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley, set off a manhunt after they were both charged with involuntary manslaughter. They were caught and ultimately convicted, each sentenced to 15 years in prison with possible parole after 10 years.
Robb Elementary School, Uvalde, Texas: May 2022
Adrian Gonzales, a school district police officer, was charged with 29 counts of child endangerment or abandonment, suggesting that he failed to act during the shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead. He was acquitted of all charges a few years later.
Gonzales's defense argued he did not see the gunman when he arrived at the school and worked to evacuate students from classrooms, CNN reported.
Richneck Elementary School, Newport News: January 2023
Deja Taylor, the mother of the 6-year-old shooter, was convicted in late 2023 of child neglect and sentenced to two years in prison, in addition to a federal sentence for lying on a gun purchasing form about marijuana use.
Former Assistant Principal Ebony Parker faces eight counts of child neglect — one count for every bullet in the gun. After she was found grossly negligent in a lawsuit filed by the victim, Abby Zwerner, Parker faces her criminal charges beginning May 18, 2026.
We discussed Parker's upcoming case on our podcast, True Crime 757, which you can stream in the player below or in your Apple/Spotify podcast apps.
