The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
The mother of a 6-year-old child who shot his elementary school teacher has been sentenced to two years in prison after she pleaded guilty to felony child neglect.
Deja Taylor, 26, was sentenced on Friday.
Prosecutors suggested Ms Taylor only receive a 6 month sentence after she accepted a plea deal over the summer, but the judge opted not to rule in light with that suggestion.
The teacher, Abigail Zwerner, survived the shooting.
The incident occurred on 6 January, when Taylor’s child shot Ms Zwerner at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. The bullet struck Ms Zwerner in the hand, passed through, and continued into her chest.
On the morning of the shooting, Taylor claimed she had equipped her trigger lock on her pistol, which she believed she had left in her pursue on her bedroom dresser.
However, prosecutors never found a lockbox, a trigger lock, or a key to a trigger lock anywhere in her home.
Three months after the shooting, Ms Zwerner sued the school district for $40m, claiming officials had ignored numerous warnings from both staff and students that Taylor’s young child had access to a handgun.