Court documents say Deja Taylor made false statements when filling out forms to purchase a gun last year
The Virginia teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student will sue her school district, alleging administrators were warned of gun, an attorney for Abby Zwerner announced Wednesday in Newport News, Virginia.
Deja Taylor, the Virginia mom of a 6-year-old boy accused of shooting his elementary school teacher back in January, is now facing federal drug and gun charges.
Court documents filed Monday say Taylor bought a firearm from a gun shop in Grafton, Virginia in late July 2022 while “knowing that she was an unlawful user of a controlled substance.”
FILE: Deja Taylor arrives with attorney James Ellenson, left, to the Newport News Sheriffs Office in Newport News, Virginia, on April 13, 2023, to turn herself in. (Billy Schuerman/Daily Press/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The documents say Taylor made a false written statement when filling out paperwork for the gun purchase at Winfree Firearms.
Taylor indicated she was not “‘an unlawful user of, or addicted to marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance’ … when in fact as she then knew, she was an unlawful user of marijuana,” the court documents say.
Marijuana is legal in Virginia, but federal law requires prospective gun owners to disclose on documents whether they use federally illegal substances like marijuana.
Fox News Digital has contacted Taylor’s attorney, Jimmy Ellenson, for comment on behalf of his client. In a statement to local outlets, Ellenson said Taylor planned to enter guilty pleas to the charges.
“The information was an agreed procedure which eliminated the need for the government to take the case to a grand jury. Our action follows very constructive negotiations we had with federal authorities. The terms of the agreement, which we believe to be fair to all parties, will be disclosed when we enter the guilty plea. That should occur later this week or next,” Ellenson said.
“We intend to present mitigating evidence that we trust the Court will view favorably at sentencing later this year following preparation of a pre-sentence report.”
