May 21, 2026 — A judge in Newport News, Virginia, dismissed all criminal charges Thursday against Ebony Parker, the former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary who had been accused of neglect after a 6‑year‑old student brought a gun to school and shot his teacher.
Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson granted the defense motion on the fourth day of Parker’s trial, saying the court “is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime.” Parker had faced eight counts of felony child neglect tied to the January 2023 shooting that wounded teacher Abby Zwerner. Prosecutors had said the counts corresponded to each bullet in the gun, and each charge carried a possible maximum sentence of five years.
Special prosecutor Josh Jenkins portrayed Parker during opening statements as dismissive when school staff raised concerns that the student might have a firearm in his backpack. Defense lawyers argued her choices that day did not amount to criminal neglect. Defense attorney Curtis Rogers told the judge Parker’s conduct “wasn’t an act of neglect,” and outside court another attorney, Stephen Teague, said the team was “thrilled” by the ruling and that Parker felt great relief.
Parker was not called to testify. The jury saw a district human resources interview with Parker conducted three days after the shooting in which she said she was told about reports of a gun but could not leave her office because testing was underway. Parker told investigators a reading specialist who first reported the concern searched the student’s backpack and found no gun, and that the student’s mother would come to the school to check the child’s belongings.
Zwerner testified earlier that the child wore an oversized jacket at recess and kept both hands in his pockets; she sent a text about that behavior to the reading specialist, who had been alerted by other students that the child might have a gun. After recess, while Zwerner was at a reading table in the classroom, the student shot her. Zwerner spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, underwent six surgeries and has not regained full use of her left hand. A bullet narrowly missed her heart and remains lodged in her chest.
Criminal prosecutions of school staff following shootings are uncommon, legal experts say. The case drew national attention as people questioned how a child so young obtained a gun and why warnings were not acted on more decisively.
In a related civil case last November, a jury awarded Zwerner $10 million; Parker, who no longer works at the school, was the only defendant in that trial. The student’s mother was later sentenced to nearly four years in prison after pleading guilty to felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.
A spokesperson for the special prosecutor did not immediately respond to requests for comment after the dismissal.