Deja Taylor, the mother of the six-year-old who shot his first grade teacher in Newport News, Virginia, was sentenced to federal prison on Wednesday for making false statements during a firearm purchase.
The six-year-old shot his teacher, Abby Zwerner, at Richneck Elementary School on January 6, 2023.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch pointed out that Police Chief Steve Drew indicated the six-year-old used a 9mm handgun his mother had legally purchased, and which the six-year-old somehow accessed.
ABC News reported that Taylor was found guilty of misdemeanor state charges on child neglect and faced federal charges for “using marijuana while in possession of a firearm and making a false statement about her drug use during the purchase of the firearm.”
Taylor was convicted on the federal charges and her prison sentence is 21 months.
Deja Nicole Taylor, right, arrives with attorney James Ellenson, to the Newport News Sheriffs Office in Newport News, Virginia, on April 13, 2023, to turn herself in. Taylor is the mother of the 6-year-old first grader who shot his teacher at Richneck Elementary School on Jan. 6. (Billy Schuerman/Daily Press/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
On June 21, 2023, Breitbart News noted that Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R) cried foul over the drug-related prosecution of Taylor, noting that Hunter Biden is being allowed to walk for committing the same crime over which Taylor faces prison.
Blackburn used a post to X to say, “Biden’s DOJ is giving Hunter a sweetheart deal for lying on a firearm background check. Meanwhile, the same DOJ is sending Deja Taylor to prison for 18-24 months for the exact same offense. What happened to equal justice under the law?”
Gun Owners of America made a similar observation, posting to X, “Hunter Biden gets special privileges because his daddy is POTUS. Deja Taylor gets prison because Joe Biden’s administration throws the book at gun owners.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
