The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in Virginia is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday and could face prison time for using marijuana while owning a firearm, which is illegal under U.S. law.
Deja Taylor's son took her handgun to school and shot Abby Zwerner in her first-grade classroom in January, seriously wounding the educator. Investigators later found nearly an ounce of marijuana in Taylor's bedroom and evidence of frequent drug use in her text messages and paraphernalia.
The federal charges against Taylor appear to be relatively rare and come at a time when marijuana is legal in many states, including Virginia.
Some U.S. courts in other parts of the country also have ruled against the federal law that bans drug users from having guns. But the law remains in effect in many states and has been used to charge others including Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son.
Federal prosecutors in Virginia argued in court filings that Taylor's "chronic, persistent and ... life-affecting abuse extends this case far beyond any occasional and/or recreational use."
Prosecutors said they'll seek a 21-month prison sentence.
"This case is not a marijuana case," they wrote. "It is a case that underscores the inherently dangerous nature and circumstances that arise from the caustic cocktail of mixing consistent and prolonged controlled substance use with a lethal firearm."
Taylor agreed in June to a negotiated guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Newport News in the state's southeast coastal region. She has been convicted of using marijuana while owning a gun as well as lying about her drug use on a federal form when she bought the firearm.
Taylor's attorneys said they'll ask for probation and home confinement, according to court filings. They argued that Taylor needs counselling for issues that include schizoaffective disorder, a condition that shares symptoms with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
They also said she needs treatment for marijuana addiction.
"Addiction is a disease and incarceration is not the cure," her attorneys wrote.
Taylor's attorneys also argued that the U.S. Supreme Court could eventually strike down the federal ban on drug users owning guns. For example, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled in August that drug users shouldn't automatically be banned from having guns.
Other lower courts have upheld the ban, and the Justice Department has appealed the 5th Circuit ruling to the Supreme Court. The high court hasn't yet decided whether to take up the case.
"Ms. Taylor is deeply saddened, extremely despondent, and completely remorseful for the unintended consequences and mistakes that led to this horrible shooting," her attorneys wrote.
Taylor's sentencing could offer the first measure of accountability for January's shooting, which revived a national dialogue about gun violence and roiled the military shipbuilding city of Newport News.
Taylor, 26, still faces a separate sentencing in December on the state level for felony child neglect. And Zwerner is suing the school system for US$40 million, alleging that administrators ignored multiple warnings the boy had a gun.
Immediately after the shooting, the child told a reading specialist who restrained him: "I shot that (expletive) dead," and "I got my mom's gun last night," according to search warrants.
Taylor's son told authorities he obtained the gun by climbing onto a drawer to reach the top of a dresser, where the firearm was in his mom's purse. Taylor initially told investigators that she had secured her gun with a trigger lock, but investigators never found one.
Taylor's grandfather has had full custody of her son, now age 7, since the shooting, according to court documents.
It wasn't the first time Taylor's gun was fired in public, prosecutors wrote. Taylor shot at her son's father in December after seeing him with his girlfriend.
"u kouldve killed me," the father said to Taylor in a text message, according to a brief from prosecutors.
Sometime after her son shot his teacher, Taylor smoked two blunts, prosecutors added. She also failed drug tests while awaiting sentencing on the federal charges.
Taylor's attorneys said Taylor "vulnerably stands before this court humiliated, contrite and saddened."
------
Associated Press reporter Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed to this report.
Children's hospitals across the country are seeing an unusual increase in the number of serious and more complicated cases of walking pneumonia affecting much younger patients, according to medical experts.
School staff are being struck more often, students are fighting more frequently, and police are increasingly being called to school grounds, according to data compiled and released this week by the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association.
Collins Dictionary has declared 'brat' -- the album title that became a summer-living ideal -- its 2024 word of the year.
Spend just a few minutes at the border between Canada and the U.S. – the world's longest – and you'll see why trade is a vital lifeline.
A convict who became Canada 's youngest designated dangerous offender after sexually assaulting a three-month-old baby is seeking escorted leave from prison to attend Indigenous cultural ceremonies in Vancouver.
With a divided electorate about to head to the polls after a dramatic presidential campaign, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have taken a more neutral approach in the 2024 U.S. general election compared to 2020, writes royal commentator Afua Hagan in her column for CTVNews.ca.
Heidi Klum and Janelle Monae opted for out-of-this-world Halloween costumes this year — both choosing to dress as the stubby alien E.T. for their parties on opposite coasts.
New changes are coming into effect that aim to protect bank customers in the event of a scam or address other bank-related issues.
A Florida man is recovering from a shark bite just over a decade after being bitten at the same beach.
School staff are being struck more often, students are fighting more frequently, and police are increasingly being called to school grounds, according to data compiled and released this week by the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association.
A 24-year-old woman has died after she was hit by a Halifax Transit bus Thursday morning.
A Montreal-area woman accused of throwing boiling water on a 10-year-old boy and causing serious injuries has been granted bail.
The investigation into allegations a B.C. woman drugged and stole from men who hired her as an escort – leaving one victim dead – was marked by "professional negligence, recklessness, and operational failures," according to a judge.
The Alberta government has tabled three bills that will change, among other things, how transgender youth and athletes are treated in the province.
Spend just a few minutes at the border between Canada and the U.S. – the world's longest – and you'll see why trade is a vital lifeline.
Russia's top diplomat on Friday hosted his North Korean counterpart for talks amid reports that Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to Russia to support its military in the war in Ukraine.
The death toll from Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip rose to 25, including five children, as more bodies have been recovered, while three people were killed in an early morning airstrike near the Lebanese capital, officials said Friday.
A New Zealand judge is to decide whether the owners of an island volcano suffered a miscarriage of justice when their company was convicted of failing to keep visitors safe following an eruption that killed 22 tourists and local guides in 2019.
North Korea boasted Friday that the new intercontinental ballistic missile it just test-launched is 'the world's strongest,' a claim seen as pure propaganda after experts assessed it as being too big to be useful in a war situation.
More than 400 alleged victims have so far contacted the legal team working on a case against the late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, who has been accused of sexual abuse and rape, lawyer Dean Armstrong said on Thursday.
Crews searched for bodies in stranded cars and sodden buildings Thursday as residents salvaged what they could from their ruined homes following monstrous flash floods in Spain that claimed at least 158 lives, with 155 deaths confirmed in the eastern Valencia region alone.
Canada will need a profound shift in political priorities if the country is to ramp up spending to meet its international security obligations.
Residential school survivors are calling on Canada to criminalize residential school denialism, echoing one of the findings in a report about unmarked graves and burial sites associated with the institutions.
Jagmeet Singh says the NDP will not support the Bloc Québécois and Conservative leaders to help them bring down the Liberal government.
A million Canadians have received care under the federal dental-care plan six months after the program began, Health Minister Mark Holland said Thursday.
The Alzheimer Society says people with dementia should have the right to request medical assistance in dying in advance — but it must not be a replacement for high-quality palliative care.
Children's hospitals across the country are seeing an unusual increase in the number of serious and more complicated cases of walking pneumonia affecting much younger patients, according to medical experts.
As Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons, passed in front of the sun, it cast a lumpy, potato-shaped shadow on the sun’s face as well as on the Martian surface.
The oldest known surviving tombstone in the United States is an elaborate display of wealth — an intricately carved slab of black limestone initially laid in the floor of the second church of Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent British settlement in North America.
Over four days on the water in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Heather Bowlby and her team from Fisheries and Oceans Canada tagged 15 great white sharks.
Heidi Klum and Janelle Monae opted for out-of-this-world Halloween costumes this year — both choosing to dress as the stubby alien E.T. for their parties on opposite coasts.
A grand jury in Nevada has again indicted Nathan Chasing Horse on charges that he sexually abused Indigenous women and girls, reviving a sweeping criminal case against the former “Dances with Wolves” actor.
Rapper Young Thug pleaded guilty Thursday in Atlanta to gang, drug and gun charges and will be released from jail, though he could be put back behind bars if he violates the terms of his sentence.
New changes are coming into effect that aim to protect bank customers in the event of a scam or address other bank-related issues.
Dockworkers at the Port of Montreal started a new strike Thursday morning, forcing the indefinite shutdown of two container terminals at the country's second biggest port.
The Canada Revenue Agency extended a reporting exemption it introduced years ago. Bare trusts will not require the submission of a T3 Return or Schedule 15 for the 2024 tax year.
A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star called Peanut is pleading with state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it during a raid that also yielded a raccoon named Fred.
Starting next week, Starbucks customers will no longer pay more for this add-on for their orders.
Collins Dictionary has declared 'brat' -- the album title that became a summer-living ideal -- its 2024 word of the year.
MLB star Freddie Freeman, a dual Canada-U.S. citizen, has made history as a member of the World Series winning Los Angeles Dodgers.
Australian golfer Jeffrey Guan’s dreams came true in September, as he made his PGA Tour debut. A week later, the 20-year-old was left blinded in one eye after being struck in the face by a golf ball.
Scotiabank Arena is pulling back the curtain and offering Toronto sports fans a behind-the-scenes look inside the storied building.
Several Ford vehicles have been recalled in Canada due to issues with braking systems, steering and child car seat tethers.
Volkswagen has informed employee representatives that it wants to close at least three plants in Germany, the head of the company's works council said Monday.
A 17-year-old Ottawa driver was caught speeding nearly 90 km/h over the speed limit on Highway 417.
Auston Matthews has come face to face with his look-alike. On Thursday, the Maple Leafs star met seven-year-old Grayson Joseph, who went viral for dressing up as an Auston Matthews hockey card.
A Halifax junk remover shares some of his company’s strangest discoveries.
When Leah arrived at work directing traffic around a construction site, she never expected to see a van painted in all sorts of bright colours, and covered in eclectic decorations, including a stuffed moose attached to its roof.
After 14 years of repairing and selling bicycles out of the garage of her home, a Guelph, Ont. woman’s efforts have ended – for now, at least.
Epcor says it has removed more than 20,000 goldfish from an Edmonton stormwater pond.
Witches and warlocks have been flocking to New Brunswick waterways this month, as a new Halloween tradition ripples across the province.
New Brunswicker Jillea Godin’s elaborate cosplay pieces attract thousands to her online accounts, as well as requests from celebrities for their own pieces.
A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.
Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.
The investigation into allegations a B.C. woman drugged and stole from men who hired her as an escort – leaving one victim dead – was marked by "professional negligence, recklessness, and operational failures," according to a judge.
A landlord from B.C.’s Lower Mainland who evicted a longtime tenant only to rent out the same unit months later for more money has been ordered to compensate him $16,480.
A convict who became Canada 's youngest designated dangerous offender after sexually assaulting a three-month-old baby is seeking escorted leave from prison to attend Indigenous cultural ceremonies in Vancouver.
New changes are coming into effect that aim to protect bank customers in the event of a scam or address other bank-related issues.
A man in his 20s was taken to hospital with serious injuries after the car he was driving plowed into a home in Scarborough early Friday.
Two people were taken to hospital following a triple stabbing in Brampton late Thursday night.
Firefighters needed to rescue the occupants of a burning home in Penbrooke Meadows after one of the evacuees climbed out of an upstairs window and was stranded on the roof.
A Danielle Smith leadership vote and policy surrounding gender and net-zero emissions targets will take centre stage when the United Conservative Party Annual General Meeting (AGM) gets underway Friday.
One person is dead and another is in hospital in the aftermath of a townhouse fire in southeast Calgary on Thursday.
An Ottawa resident is facing charges in connection to a fatal crash on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end last May. Emergency crews responded to the head-on collision on Highway 417 by Kinburn Side Road just before 9:30 a.m. on May 14.
Drivers will be paying more to park at several municipal parking lots in Ottawa, including the two lots in the ByWard Market. The short-term parking rate at the parking garage at 70 Clarence Street increases to $2 for 30 minutes.
The switch to standard time occurs at 2 a.m. on Sunday, with clocks moving back one hour. The end of daylight saving time means it will get darker earlier in the evening, with sunset before 5 p.m. starting on Sunday.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante spoke to CTV News anchor Caroline Van Vlaardingen about her shocking decision, what's next for her and about a recent controversial decision to remove a poster at City Hall because it depicted a woman in a hijab.
Service has resumed on the Montreal Metro's Green line, which was down early Friday morning due to 'water infiltration.'
The Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 to continue their strong start.
The Alberta government has tabled three bills that will change, among other things, how transgender youth and athletes are treated in the province.
A Danielle Smith leadership vote and policy surrounding gender and net-zero emissions targets will take centre stage when the United Conservative Party Annual General Meeting (AGM) gets underway Friday.
A fire early Friday morning spread from a house under construction to two neighbouring homes in Belgravia.
Gas prices dropped slightly in all three Maritime provinces overnight.
The daughter of a Nova Scotia woman who was killed by her husband of 33 years earlier this month in Enfield says she wants police to release more details about domestic violence cases.
A 24-year-old woman has died after she was hit by a Halifax Transit bus Thursday morning.
Winnipeg restaurant owners are calling for help amid rising crime in their dining rooms, saying the province’s retail crime initiative doesn’t go far enough.
Newly elected trustees at the Mountain View School Division, hope they can help end months of turmoil surrounding the school board.
A Winnipeg high school football record that has stood since 2009 has been broken by two different players.
A large percentage of newly elected MLAs in Saskatchewan are women, according to a Canadian organization called Equal Voice.
Conservation officers are asking for tips from the public after about 100 snow geese were shot and left to waste near Moose Jaw.
Here's a look at the candidates for Ward 2 ahead Regina's civic election on Nov. 13.
An 80-year-old Cambridge woman is dead following a crash in Cambridge Thursday morning.
People living in an encampment in Guelph have been told they have two weeks to pack up and get out.
Thursday marks one of the biggest days on the Hindu calendar, with Diwali bringing in millions of people together in worship and celebration.
Saskatchewan RCMP are looking for a man wanted in connection with a dangerous person alert sent out across the province last week.
A large percentage of newly elected MLAs in Saskatchewan are women, according to a Canadian organization called Equal Voice.
Four Saskatoon mayoral candidates had their chance to challenge each other on various issues during a televised debate Wednesday night.
Police in northern Ontario say a razor blade was found in a child's candy on Halloween night.
Juanita Migwans – or 'Winnie,' as her family calls her – of M'Chigeeng First Nation has been missing for almost a month.
With news that big box grocery stores are allowed to sell alcohol, CTV News decided to check in with local convenience stores to see how sales are going.
The St. Thomas Fire Department says it was an extreme case of renoviction that led to the closure of an apartment building in the south end of the city, following numerous safety violations.
As reported on Tuesday, police said a man was with his family in a park near King Street and Thames Street, when an unknown man approached.
The city of London is contributing more than $3 million for an office to residential conversion downtown.
Ontario Provincial Police have charged a resident of the apartment building on King Street with arson.
York Regional Police (YRP) are on the hunt for a man allegedly involved in the shooting of a 65-year-old man in Schomberg as he walked his dog in February 2023.
Motorist calls police after seeing a truck being driven erratically.
While patrolling for stolen vehicles in the Bothwell area around 12:15 a.m. on Oct. 29, police saw a pickup truck approaching. After getting the license plate, an office tried to make a U-turn, but the truck sped away.
A Windsor teen’s social media post showing off a distinctive Windsor pizza topping has gone viral, drawing millions of views worldwide and sparking new curiosity about Windsor-style pizza.
A man accused of attempted murder has been arrested for failing to comply with his bail conditions.
Mounties in British Columbia have discovered the 'largest and most sophisticated' drug-production laboratory in Canadian history, federal investigators announced Thursday, describing the facility as a 'super lab' operated by international organized criminals.
Police on Vancouver Island say one suspect has been arrested and another is believed to have fled Canada after shots were fired at a Punjabi musician's Victoria-area home last month.
Three and a half years after losing her only child, a Victoria mother has confirmed something she has long believed: her daughter’s death was not an accident.
More than two years after Alannah Brown and Douglas Barker were found dead north of Penticton, police are asking for help identifying a vehicle they believe was associated with the crime.
Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.
A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.
The University of Lethbridge Pronghorn Athletics Annual Safe Ride Home campaign is making a return this year, but with a new name.
A three goal outburst in the first period of Wednesday night’s game against the Swift Current Broncos was all the Hurricanes need on their way to 3-1 win at home against the Swift Current Broncos.
A 27-year-old security guard has been charged after an incident where a bar patron sustained life-threatening injuries.
A 40-year-old suspect has been charged with sexual assault following an incident Wednesday in Sault Ste. Marie.
Juanita Migwans – or 'Winnie,' as her family calls her – of M'Chigeeng First Nation has been missing for almost a month.
The City of Greater Sudbury has been chosen to host the Ontario 55+ Summer Games next year.
School staff are being struck more often, students are fighting more frequently, and police are increasingly being called to school grounds, according to data compiled and released this week by the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association.
Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general has issued a warning about the province's financial position as the government announced it would finish the 2024-25 fiscal year with a higher-than-expected deficit.
Police in Newfoundland and Labrador have charged an off-duty RCMP officer for allegedly driving while impaired, following a crash on Sunday.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
