US mother whose six-year-old son shot teacher jailed for 21 months

WASHINGTON – A Virginia woman whose six-year-old son shot and severely wounded his teacher was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Dec 15.

Deja Taylor’s son took her gun to school in the southern US state on Jan 6 and shot his elementary school teacher.

The teacher was hospitalised for two weeks with injuries to her hand and chest.

The 26-year-old Taylor was sentenced to 21 months in prison in November after pleading guilty to illegally obtaining the firearm and making a false statement on a government form required to purchase the weapon.

Taylor had claimed, falsely, on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives form that she did not consume illegal drugs.

Newport News Circuit Court Judge Christopher Papile sentenced Taylor on Dec 15 to an additional two years in prison for felony child neglect.

The two-year prison sentence is to be served after Taylor completes the 21-month sentence.

Amid a huge number of deadly firearms incidents involving young people, pressure has been mounting in the United States to punish parents who make it possible for their children to get access to weapons.

The father of an Illinois man accused of killing seven people during a US Independence Day parade pleaded guilty in November to “reckless conduct” for helping his son obtain the assault rifle used in the mass shooting.

The parents of a 15-year-old boy who killed four people at a high school in Oakland County, Michigan, in November 2021 have been charged for buying their son a gun even though they were aware of signs that he was a threat.

While accidents involving young children accessing unsecured firearms in their homes are common in the United States, school shootings perpetrated by those under 10 years old are rare.

A database compiled by US researcher David Riedman has registered only about 15 such incidents since the 1970s. AFP