All charges against Ebony Parker, the former elementary school assistant principal accused of ignoring repeated warnings that a 6-year-old student had a gun hours before the child eventually shot and seriously wounded his teacher, were dismissed Thursday.
The ruling from Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson, in Newport News, Virginia, came on the fourth day of Parker’s trial in response to a motion filed by the defense team for the former Richneck Elementary School administrator. She was facing eight counts of felony child neglect for her alleged actions around the shooting, but Robinson said Thursday that the court “is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime.”
Parker was charged in the January 2023 shooting in Newport News that left teacher Abby Zwerner wounded. Prosecutors had said the charges were for each of the bullets in the gun brought into Zwerner’s classroom. Each count could have carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.
Special prosecutor Josh Jenkins did not immediately return an email and a telephone message left at his office on Thursday. During opening statements earlier this week, Jenkins had sought to paint a picture of Parker as dismissive when employees at the school approached with concerns that a gun may have been inside the 6-year-old’s backpack.
Defense attorney Curtis Rogers told the judge in making his motion that Parker’s decision on the day of the shooting “wasn’t an act of neglect.”
“Her actions in no way indicated that she believed there was a firearm in the possession” of the child, Rogers said.
Peter Casey/The Virginian-Pilot via AP, Pool 
Another defense attorney, Stephen Teague, said outside court that “we believe that the right outcome was reached and we’re thrilled for Dr. Parker. It was a great relief for her and we’re just happy that we were part of her journey.”
Parker was not called to testify during the trial. On Wednesday, a video interview of Parker conducted three days after the shooting by a school district human resources officer was played in the courtroom for the jury.
Parker said she was told about reports that the student had a gun in his backpack, but said she could not leave her office due to ongoing testing. A reading specialist who first reported the concerns then searched the backpack, but no gun was found, Parker said.
Parker then said the student’s mother would arrive to pick him up and go through the rest of his belongings.
Zwerner testified earlier in the trial that during recess on the school playground, the student wore an oversized jacket and kept both of his hands in his pockets the entire time. Zwerner said she sent a text message with that observation to the reading specialist, who had been tipped off earlier by students about the gun and reported it to Parker.
After recess, the student continued to wear the jacket in the classroom, where Zwerner was shot at a reading table. Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, required six surgeries and does not have the full use of her left hand. A bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains in her chest.
Criminal charges against school officials after a school shooting are quite rare, experts say. The shooting sent shock waves through this military shipbuilding community and the country at large, with many wondering how a child so young could gain access to a gun and shoot his teacher.
A jury awarded $10 million to Zwerner in a civil trial last November, where Parker, who no longer works at the school, was the only defendant.
The student’s mother was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.