Ebony Parker Lawsuit: $10M Verdict, Appeal, and Dismissed Charges

The Ebony Parker lawsuit ended with a Newport News civil jury finding the former Richneck Elementary assistant principal grossly negligent and awarding first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner $10 million in damages on November 6, 2025. The trial court upheld that award in January 2026, and Parker has appealed. On the criminal side, a judge dismissed all eight felony child-abuse counts against Parker in May 2026, ruling that no crime had been committed under Virginia law.¹

What Parker Was Accused of Doing

The civil and criminal cases both turned on what happened in the hours before a six-year-old first-grader shot Zwerner in her classroom on January 6, 2023. According to trial testimony and the civil complaint, multiple staff members warned Parker throughout the day that the boy might have a gun, and she failed to take effective action.

Zwerner reported to Parker around 11:30 a.m. that the student was in a “violent mood.”² Reading specialist Amy Kovac told Parker that other students had said the boy had a firearm, and Zwerner texted Kovac that the child was wearing an oversized jacket and keeping both hands in his pockets during recess.³ Parker directed an educator to search the boy’s backpack; no gun was found there. Kovac reported that the jacket was large enough to conceal a weapon, and Parker allegedly dismissed the concern by citing the boy’s “little pockets.” Guidance counselor Rolonzo Rawles asked for permission to search the student further, and Parker allegedly refused, saying the child’s mother would be arriving soon.

Prosecutors later emphasized that Parker did not search the child herself, did not call police, did not remove the student from the classroom, and did not notify the school’s principal. In a human resources interview played at trial, Parker said she could not leave her office because of “testing.”¹ The school’s security officer was off-site that day, meaning only Parker and the principal had authority to conduct a search.³ That afternoon, the boy pulled a Taurus 9mm handgun from his clothing and shot Zwerner at a reading table. The bullet passed through her left hand and into her chest, collapsing a lung. She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital.⁴

The $10 Million Civil Verdict

Zwerner originally sued Parker, two other administrators, and the Newport News School Board for $40 million. The two other administrators and the school board were dismissed before trial, leaving Parker as the sole defendant.⁵

The trial opened in Newport News Circuit Court on October 28, 2025.²⁶⁷⁸

On November 6, 2025, the jury found Parker grossly negligent and awarded Zwerner $10 million, with interest accruing from June 1, 2024.⁵

Post-Trial Motions and the Pending Appeal

Parker’s attorneys moved to overturn the verdict, dismiss the case, strike the award, or grant a new trial. They argued that the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Act should have barred the suit because the shooting arose from risks inherent in Zwerner’s employment; that Parker had exercised “some degree of care” by ordering the backpack search and calling the student’s mother; and that Zwerner was contributorily negligent for not separating the student from his backpack after hearing the warnings.⁶ They also argued Parker was prejudiced by the civil case going first, which prevented her from testifying.

On January 30, 2026, a Newport News judge denied all post-trial motions and upheld the $10 million award.⁹ Parker has since filed an appeal, which remains pending.¹

The Criminal Charges and Their Dismissal

In April 2024, a special grand jury indicted Parker on eight counts of felony child abuse and disregard for life. Each count corresponded to one of the eight unspent bullets remaining in the gun, representing the danger to the students in Zwerner’s classroom.¹⁰ Each count carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison.³ Parker pleaded not guilty.¹¹

The criminal trial began May 19, 2026, before Judge Rebecca Robinson. Prosecutors argued Parker committed “a willful act or omission in the care of such students, in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life.”¹

Two days later, on May 21, 2026, Judge Robinson granted a defense motion to strike and dismissed all eight charges with prejudice. Robinson said, “The court is of the legal opinion that this is not a crime, not under the common law of Virginia, nor under the code of Virginia.”¹² She called the prosecution’s approach a “mashup of legal theory” that did not fit the plain reading of the statute, and noted that charging Parker with eight separate counts based on bullets still inside the gun ran contrary to case law, which requires bullets to have been discharged.¹³ Because the dismissal was with prejudice, the charges cannot be refiled.

Whether Zwerner Can Actually Collect

Parker’s civil defense was provided by the Virginia Risk Sharing Association, an insurance pool that covers the Newport News School Board and its employees. A VRSA spokesperson told CNN the association would “hypothetically pay damages in litigation if awarded.”¹⁴

Insurance analysts had noted that a criminal conviction could have let the insurer argue Parker’s conduct fell outside the scope of her professional role, opening the door to a denial of coverage.¹⁵ Emily Mapp Brannon, an attorney representing parents in a separate suit against Parker, said the dismissal removed a criminal-acts exclusion argument the insurer might otherwise have raised.¹⁶ Actual payment still depends on the outcome of Parker’s pending civil appeal.

Related Cases Still in Motion

Parents of children who were in the classroom during the shooting have filed a separate lawsuit against Parker, alleging “systemic failures” and claiming their children were “placed in peril multiple times throughout the day by the very people employed to keep them safe.” That case remains active.¹⁶

The student’s mother, Deja Taylor, was prosecuted separately. In state court she pleaded guilty to felony child neglect and was sentenced to two years in prison by Circuit Court Judge Christopher Papile, above both the guidelines and the six months jointly recommended by prosecutors and defense counsel.¹⁷ In federal court she pleaded guilty to two firearm-related felonies and received 21 months, to be served before the state sentence, for a combined term of nearly four years.¹⁸

Superintendent George Parker III, who is not related to Ebony Parker despite the shared surname, was removed by a 5-1 school board vote on January 25, 2023, in a “without cause” termination with roughly $502,000 in severance.¹⁹²⁰ Principal Briana Foster-Newton was reassigned within the district and, through her attorney, denied knowing about the gun threat that day.²¹ Ebony Parker herself resigned from Richneck two weeks after the shooting and has held no publicly reported position since.¹¹

1
CNN. Ebony Parker Trial Dismissed
2
Courthouse News Service. Civil Trial Begins in $40M Lawsuit by Teacher Shot by Elementary School Student
3
NBC News. School Official Did Nothing After Being Told 6-Year-Old Student Had Gun, Prosecutor Says
4
WAVY. Judge Denies Mistrial Motion in Newport News School Shooting Trial
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ABC News. Jury Awards $10 Million to Teacher Shot by 6-Year-Old
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Court TV. Ebony Parker Asks Court to Overturn Judgment for Teacher Shot by Student
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KCRA. Ebony Parker Virginia School Shooting Trial
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WTKR. Defense to Start Calling Witnesses on Day 5 of Richneck Shooting Trial
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WAVY. Judge Upholds $10M Jury Award for NN Teacher Shot by First Grader
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WAVY. Report: Security, Administrative Failures Led Up to Richneck Shooting
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CNN. School Shooting Ebony Parker Trial
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NBC News. Judge Dismisses Child Neglect Counts Against Newport News Assistant Principal
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Court TV. Judge Dismisses Charges Against Ebony Parker for School Shooting
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CNN. Teacher Shot Trial: Abby Zwerner
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NBC News. Abigail Zwerner Wins $10 Million Lawsuit
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WAVY. Day 4 of Richneck Elementary Shooting Criminal Trial
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CBS News. Deja Taylor Sentenced
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ABC News. Deja Taylor Newport News Sentenced
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CBS News. Newport News Board Votes to Remove Superintendent
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WAVY. Parker Out as Superintendent in Newport News
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CNN. Richneck Elementary Shooting Principal Virginia