A judge has dismissed all charges against a former school administrator accused of ignoring warnings about a 6-year-old with a gun. Circuit Judge Rebecca Robinson ruled on Thursday that the actions of Ebony Parker, the former assistant principal, did not constitute a crime. The charges stemmed from a January 2023 shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, where teacher Abby Zwerner was wounded. Prosecutors charged Parker with eight felony counts of child neglect, each carrying a potential five-year sentence. Parker’s defense argued she was unaware the child had a gun. The student’s mother received a prison sentence for related charges.

A former assistant principal is set to go on trial, accused of ignoring warnings that a student brought a loaded gun to a Virginia elementary school. Ebony Parker was the assistant principal at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News when the 6-year-old student shot his first-grade teacher in 2023. Parker is charged with eight counts of felony child neglect. Last year a jury awarded $10 million to the teacher in a lawsuit filed against Parker. The child's mother previously was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.