Taylor has twice tested positive for marijuana and once for cocaine, federal prosecutors wrote in a filing with the court this month. Photo credit by Newport News Police Department.
According to a Fox News report on Thursday, September 21, 2023, the mother of the 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in Virginia in January could face jail time for failing drug tests while awaiting sentencing on federal weapons charges
Deja Taylor pleaded guilty in June to using marijuana while in possession of a firearm.
Authorities say she also lied about her drug use on the federal background check form when purchasing the gun her son brought to Richneck Elementary School and used to shoot his teacher, Abby Zwerner.
Zwerner was seriously wounded in the shooting and has undergone multiple surgeries.
Taylor was released on bond by a federal judge in Newport News until her October sentencing date
Her bond conditions required she submit to drug tests and receive addiction treatment.
However, prosecutors say Taylor has twice tested positive for marijuana and once for cocaine.
She also missed two drug tests and two treatment sessions.
“These violations are serious and call into question the defendant’s danger to the community, respect for the law and this Court’s Orders,” prosecutors wrote in a recent filing.
They have called for Taylor’s bond to be revoked and for her to be incarcerated until sentencing.
Taylor’s attorney argued against jailing her, saying she has made “substantial positive developments” by taking additional drug tests that, while positive for marijuana, show decreasing levels, indicating she is abstaining.
He called her one positive cocaine test an “aberration.”
While acknowledging Taylor’s addiction, he said incarceration is not the solution.
Taylor’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 18.
Per her plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend 18-24 months in prison.
Marijuana use is legal in Virginia and many states but remains illegal under federal law.
Authorities found marijuana in homes associated with Taylor after the shooting.
In addition to the federal charges, Taylor faces up to six months in prison for a state felony child neglect charge related to the shooting.
She will be sentenced on that charge on October 27.
Prosecutors agreed to drop a charge of reckless firearm storage.
The teacher Taylor’s son shot, Abby Zwerner, is suing the school district for $40 million.
She claims administrators ignored multiple warnings about the boy having a gun at school before the shooting.
