Ex-assistant principal on trial in case of 6-year-old shooter

Attorneys gave their opening statements Tuesday in the trial of Ebony Parker, a former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school. She faces eight counts of felony child abuse after investigators said she ignored several warnings that a 6-year-old student at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Va., was armed with a handgun. The student, who is identified in court records only as “J.T.,” ultimately shot his teacher, Abigail Zwerner, in the hand and chest. Zwerner survived.

Parker entered a plea of not guilty and is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

What did the prosecutor say in his opening statement? Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Josh Jenkins immediately characterized Parker as the only person who both knew a crisis was underway and had the authority to take action. He added that although Zwerner was the one who was shot—and that was tragic—she was not the real victim of the case; the roughly 20 students in her class were.

Jenkins recited various warnings he said Parker received on Jan. 6, 2023, about J.T.’s mindset and possession of a handgun. A reading specialist told her she believed he had a gun in his backpack and said she would search it. At least one other school staff member told Parker a student reported that J.T. showed him the gun at recess, Jenkins said. For more than an hour, a school counselor and other staff members urged that J.T. be physically searched, but Parker refused, Jenkins said. When J.T. shot Zwerner, Parker locked herself down in her office rather than put the school on lockdown, per standard procedure, Jenkins said.

What did Parker’s team say in the opening arguments? Her attorney, Curtis Rogers, took issue with Jenkins’ assertion that Parker was the only one who bore any responsibility for inaction. He went on to criticize other members of the school’s staff and administration who reported the warning signs to Parker, yet failed to take action themselves, like separating J.T. from the other students.

Who testified? The jury heard testimony from Zwerner, the teacher who was shot. She described seeing J.T. out of the corner of her eye in her classroom. When she turned toward him, she said she saw the gun pointed at her. That’s when she was shot in the hand and the chest.

Dig deeper: Read Johanna Huebscher’s report about Zwerner’s testimony in a $40 million lawsuit.