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The
Associated Press
The mother of the 6-year-old boy who shot and wounded his teacher at a Virginia school has been arrested and indicted on charges of child neglect and failing to keep his gun in a safe place, police announced Thursday.
The Newport News Police Department released a photo of the 25-year-old woman and a brief statement indicating that she had voluntarily turned herself in at the local jail.
The woman was released after posting $5,000 bail and has a hearing scheduled for Friday in Newport News Circuit Court, said James Ellenson, her attorney.
"She's nervous and scared because she's never been charged before, but she's staying strong
," Ellenson wrote in an email Thursday.
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Authorities announced Monday that Deja Taylor was being charged with child neglect and a misdemeanor count of endangering a child by unsafe storage of a weapon.
His arrest comes more than three months after police said his son shot and wounded his first-grade teacher,
Abby Zwerner, as she sat at a classroom reading table.
Authorities said the boy used his mother's gun, which had been purchased legally.
Zwerner filed a $40 million lawsuit against the school system last week, accusing officials of gross negligence and ignoring multiple warnings from teachers and others that the boy had brought a gun to school that day.
[The Virginia school district where a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher has had three shootings in 17 months]
The city attorney's office said Tuesday that it is investigating whether the "acts or omissions" of any employee at the school could lead to criminal charges.
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The January shooting at Richneck Elementary School rocked Newport News, a shipyard city of about 185,000 near the Chesapeake Bay.
Police chief Steve Drew has repeatedly said the shooting was "intentional."
He added that there was no warning or scuffle before the boy pointed the gun at Zwerner and fired once.
The bullet hit the teacher in the hand and chest.
Zwerner, 25, managed to get her students out of the classroom before being taken to the hospital, where she stayed for almost two weeks.
Students return to class at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, Monday, June 30, for the first time after a 6-year-old student shot a teacher.Getty Images
The negligence charge against the child's mother carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
The misdemeanor charge of unsecurely storing a weapon is punishable by up to one year in jail.
Ellenson had previously said the woman had no criminal history.
She also said that her gun was in a safe place on top of a cabinet in her closet and that she had a trigger lock.
[How can a 6 year old shoot his teacher? Easy access to weapons and audiovisual violence increase the risk]
The family has said the boy has an "acute disability"
and he was under a care plan that included his parents accompanying him to class every day.
The week of the shooting was the first in which one of his parents was not in class with him, according to the family.