Mother of 6-Year-Old Who Shot Teacher in Virginia Sentenced

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — The mother of a 6-year-old who shot his teacher in Virginia was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for felony child neglect, nearly a year after her son used her gun to critically wound the educator.

Friday’s sentencing was the second time Deja Taylor was held to account for the classroom shooting, which stunned the nation and shook the military shipbuilding city of Newport News.

The state sentence she received Friday from Circuit Court Judge Christopher Papile was stiffer than what is called for in state sentencing guidelines and harsher than a joint sentencing recommendation of six months prosecutors and Taylor’s lawyers had agreed to in a plea deal.