A courtroom in Newport News, Virginia, fell silent Thursday as a judge abruptly concluded a highly unusual criminal trial, dismissing all charges against a school administrator accused of failing to act on repeated warnings before a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher. Ebony Parker, a former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary School, broke down in tears as Judge Rebecca Robinson delivered her ruling, granting the defense motion to strike all eight felony counts of child abuse and endangerment. The decision meant no jury deliberation, no verdict, and the immediate end of the case.
"There is no precedent for what is before the court." — Judge Rebecca Robinson, Newport News Circuit Court
At the heart of the proceedings was a devastating event that occurred on January 6, 2023. A first-grade student at Richneck Elementary retrieved a 9mm handgun, taken from his mother’s purse, and shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, in the hand and chest. Fragments of the bullet remain lodged in Zwerner's body. Prosecutors had argued that multiple individuals had warned Parker prior to the shooting that the boy might be carrying a weapon, and that she failed to intervene.
However, Judge Robinson concluded that failing to act, under the specific language of Virginia law, did not constitute a crime in this context. "There is no precedent for what is before the court," Robinson stated from the bench, highlighting the unprecedented nature of holding a school official criminally responsible for a child's actions. The judge also raised questions regarding the prosecution's construction of the charges, specifically whether the eight counts referred to the number of bullets remaining in the gun or the students present in Zwerner’s classroom.
Robinson found the legal logic supporting these frameworks strained. "Those legal theories do not fit plausibly with the theory of the legal statute," she explained. "Therefore, I do grant defense motion to strike on all eight counts of felony child abuse and endangerment." Her additional commentary was brief, simply stating, "What happened that day was awful." The jury, which had been dismissed the previous evening after the prosecution rested its case, did not return to the courtroom.
The ruling is permanent because Judge Robinson acted on a motion to strike rather than declaring a mistrial. This means prosecutors have no avenue for appeal, and Parker cannot face a second trial, as further prosecution would constitute double jeopardy under the Constitution. Parker had pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Defense attorney Curtis Rogers had strenuously argued that prosecutors never established criminal intent on Parker’s part. "Based on the information that Dr. Parker had, she made decisions," Rogers told the court. "In hindsight, those decisions actually were determined not to be the correct decision. But her decision was not an act of neglect. She didn’t intend harm to the students." Rogers further asserted that Parker "didn’t believe there was a weapon, so that explains her conduct that day."
Conversely, Prosecutor Joshua Jenkins contended that Parker’s failure to search the student endangered more than 20 children. "It’s not that Dr. Parker knew there was a danger necessarily but that she should have known … there were multiple warnings by multiple people," Jenkins argued. "The mere fact that a weapon was on campus should have triggered the crisis defined in the crisis management plan. Yet, it did not."
Legal analysts outside the case suggested the prosecution faced structural challenges from the outset. Former prosecutor Neama Rahmani observed, "It’s very difficult to prosecute someone for an omission." Rahmani clarified that criminal law typically requires an affirmative act, rather than a failure to act. Newport News defense attorney Rich Hallenback echoed this sentiment, noting Parker’s conduct "doesn’t really cleanly fit into any particular crime." Local attorney Chad Roberts supported the judge’s decision, explaining that "the alleged actions didn’t fit the crime itself." Rahmani also drew parallels to criminal cases against law enforcement officers accused of failing to intervene during school shootings in Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas, both of which resulted in acquittals.
Hampton Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell, who oversaw the special prosecution, expressed his office’s desire for a jury decision. "It was the citizens of Newport News, through the grand jury process, who determined that indictments against Ebony Parker were appropriate based upon the evidence presented," Bell said in a statement. "We had hoped the community would have had the opportunity to weigh in through the full judicial process. Nevertheless, the Court has now concluded the matter as it deemed appropriate under the law."
The criminal acquittal does not negate Parker’s civil liabilities. A separate jury previously ordered her to pay $10 million in damages to Zwerner, finding her negligent for failing to search the boy despite direct warnings. However, the city of Newport News is currently contesting that judgment in an appeals court, and Zwerner has yet to collect any portion of the award. The boy’s mother, Deja Taylor, had already pleaded guilty to child neglect and firearms charges and is serving a sentence of nearly four years behind bars, after investigators determined her son took the weapon from her purse.
Zwerner’s legal team, attorneys Diane Toscano, Kevin Biniazan, and Jeffrey Breit, released a statement addressing both outcomes: "From the beginning, our focus has remained on obtaining justice in civil court for the preventable failures that led to Abby being shot. A Newport News jury has already spoken, returning a $10 million verdict in Abby’s favor. Yet even today, the City of Newport News continues to resist accepting responsibility and delivering the justice that verdict represents."
