Virginia charges dismissed in elementary case

A Virginia judge on May 21 dismissed the criminal case against Ebony Parker, the former Richneck Elementary School assistant principal accused of ignoring warnings that a 6-year-old had a gun before he shot teacher Abby Zwerner in 2023. Circuit Court Judge Rebecca Robinson threw out all eight felony child-neglect counts after the prosecution rested, saying Virginia law did not clearly make Parker’s alleged conduct a crime. Parker had pleaded not guilty. The ruling ends the criminal trial in Newport News, but it does not erase the civil findings already made against her. ### Who is Ebony Parker, and what charges were dismissed? Ebony Parker, 41, was the former assistant principal at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, when a 6-year-old student shot first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner on Jan. 6, 2023. Prosecutors charged Parker with eight counts of felony child neglect with reckless disregard for life, one count for each unspent bullet in the gun, according to ABC News and local coverage. Judge Rebecca Robinson dismissed those counts on Thursday, May 21, on the fourth day of trial after two days of prosecution testimony and after the state rested its case. WAVY reported that 16 witnesses testified before Robinson granted a defense motion to strike. (abcnews.com) ### Why did the judge throw the case out before it reached a jury? Rebecca Robinson said from the bench that the prosecution’s theory did not fit clearly within existing Virginia criminal law. ABC News quoted her as saying, “The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime,” while WHRO and WAVY reported that she described the case as a “mashup” of legal theory and said lawmakers would need to clarify or write new law. (whro.org) Curtis Rogers, Parker’s attorney, argued that Parker may have shown poor judgment but did not act with the willful neglect required for a criminal conviction. Josh Jenkins, a deputy commonwealth’s attorney serving as special prosecutor, argued that multiple warnings about an armed student should have triggered the school’s crisis response. (abcnews.com) ### What did prosecutors say Parker failed to do that day? Jan. 6, 2023, was the day several staff members reported concerns that the boy had a gun at school, according to trial testimony summarized by ABC News, WHRO and WAVY. Prosecutors said Richneck policy allowed only an administrator or school resource officer to search a student for a weapon, and argued Parker failed to act after repeated warnings. (abcnews.com) Abby Zwerner was among the staff members who raised concerns before the shooting, WHRO reported. Later that day, the boy shot Zwerner in her classroom; the bullet went through her hand and into her chest, collapsing a lung, according to WHRO and WAVY. (abcnews.com) ### What other findings have already come out of this case? A Virginia jury in November 2025 found Parker grossly negligent in Zwerner’s civil lawsuit and awarded the teacher $10 million in damages, according to ABC News, CBS News and WUSA9. The verdict followed Zwerner’s claim that Parker ignored multiple warnings that the student might have a gun. (whro.org) A Newport News judge in January 2026 denied efforts to overturn that verdict, WAVY reported. WHRO said that civil verdict has been appealed. The criminal dismissal does not change that separate civil judgment. ### What happens next? January 30, 2026, is the date WAVY reported that a judge upheld the $10 million civil award, and WHRO said the appeal of that verdict is still pending. (abcnews.com) Parker declined comment after the criminal dismissal, according to WAVY, while her lawyer Stephen Teague said, “It’s the correct outcome.” (wavy.com) The next formal action appears likely to come through the appeal tied to Abby Zwerner’s civil case, not through Parker’s dismissed criminal trial. Court filings in that appeal will determine whether the $10 million verdict stands. (whro.org) (wavy.com)