Mother of 6-year-old who shot teacher faces federal charges over marijuana use, gun possession

BY BEN FINLEY
Associated Press

The mother of a 6-year-old boy who shot his teacher in Virginia is now facing federal charges that she used marijuana while also possessing a gun. Doing so is illegal under U.S. law. Deja Taylor is also accused of lying about her marijuana use on a federal background check form when she bought the 9 mm handgun. While marijuana use was recently legalized in Virginia, it remains illegal under federal law. The new charges are in addition to the counts of child neglect and reckless firearm storage that Taylor faces on the state level. In January, her son shot and seriously wounded first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner in the city of Newport News.