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Amy Robach
This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. If audiobooks are your thing or you've been meaning to listen to more of them, you should check out a podcast called earsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club. Hosted by Cal Penn.
T.J. Holmes
Each episode spotlights standout audiobooks on Audible across all kinds of genres Sci fi, comedy, romance, thrillers and more. With Cal talking to guests who help break down what makes each story worth listening to.
Amy Robach
It's a fun, easy way to discover your next Great check out Earsay on
T.J. Holmes
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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T.J. Holmes
Hey there folks. It is Monday, May 18, and this morning just underway what is the believed, believed to be the first criminal trial of a school administrator who is being held responsible for a shooting at the school. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and tj. This has I, I mean nobody can find another case. We've seen parents being held responsible. We've seen police officers, school resource officers being taken into court. This time it's an assistant principal.
Amy Robach
Yes, this they believe is the first of its kind. And a criminal trial is underway right now in Newport News, Virginia. A former assistant principal, her name is Dr. Ebony Parker, is facing eight felony counts of child neglect. And I was trying to figure out how they came up with eight counts because one school teacher, a first grade teacher, was shot in this incident. She did survive. But the eight felony counts are for the eight bullets that was in that loaded gun that was brought to school by a six year old three years ago in January of 2023.
T.J. Holmes
A lot of people remember this case because it was wild. Well, you talk about a six year old when you hear about a school shooting, but yes, a six year old kid, very troubled by all accounts brought a gun to school, shot the teacher in the chest and hand. The teacher is okay. But that teacher robes did win a civil suit. This wasn't too long ago at the end of last year and a lot of people will remember that. But a civil jury certainly thought that this teacher, excuse me, assistant principal, was responsible.
Amy Robach
Yes, the teacher is Abby Zwerner. Again, she was a first grade teacher and you mentioned. Yeah, she was shot in the chest, in the hand. She was reading. She was reading in her classroom. She was at a table. She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital. She had six surgeries. She doesn't have the full use of her left hand. And by doctor's accounts, just, just by a small margin. Did she survive? Actually because this bullet that this six year old shot at her is inches from her spine and vital organs and it's actually in such a dangerous place they can't even remove it. So she will die with that bullet inside of her. So this took, I guess I describe all of that to say this has obviously significantly impacted this teacher's life. And yes, a jury awarded her $10 million for Parker's Basically failure to act. Failure to act on repeated. They said there were at least three different occasions where she was told there were suspicions this kid was bragging about this, this gun to kids throughout the day. And they say she failed in her duties to search for, fully searched this child to make sure this child didn't have a Gun.
T.J. Holmes
And it was her responsibility. Why a principal? It wasn't the principal, this is an assistant principal we're talking about. But she was the one in charge at the time and was had these incidents of, I mean there was a threat, the security threat to the school and she did not follow up on it. Her attorneys have their own reason for why she shouldn't have been the one to do so. But the point is a civil jury didn't see it that way. So we talk and we're talking about a six year old kid. Why in God's name is a six year old kid have gun? There was a history of all kinds of trouble in this kid's home, trouble with this kid at school to the point of you can't even understand why the six year old robes was even allowed to continue in school with other kids. Some of these incidents were not just picking on or poking or pushing or. There were some very serious incidents they had, they described involving this kid. And in this particular incident there were kids that, that reported to their teachers or to other kids that they had actually laid eyes on the gun. So it wasn't just a rumor thing, it was just a matter of opening a kid's bag. And for whatever reason, she didn't do so. So the civil jury heard all this and a criminal jury is about to hear the same evidence.
Amy Robach
Yeah, so this is, this is a serious. She's facing five years for each charge. So depending on how if she's found guilty of these, she could be looking up to 40 years behind bars. So this is a serious situation where you've got somebody who yes, was essentially in charge of a school, Dr. Ebony Parker. And now she could be headed to prison. So her life is truly on the line at this point. And this trial they say is expected to last four or five days. We've been watching. There's a live stream and I say live stream going on, but it is delayed. There was some back and forth last week about whether or not cameras would even be allowed in this Newport News courtroom. And the judge landed on allowing one camera, a pool camera to basically document what's going on in that courtroom. But they'll be on a 30 minute delay. So that was the, that was the compromise that was made. So this is obviously something that folks all around the country are watching and certainly school districts. This has far reaching impacts if a school administrator is found criminally responsible for the actions of a student under her care.
T.J. Holmes
But there are some unique, I don't know how often or how much we'll see this. But I certainly thought robes, that given where we are and what we've seen, frankly, since Columbine, you can go back to that. There's just been a different mindset when it comes to security around schools. You're told a kid has a gun and you don't even open the bag is confusing and is a, a unique situation. I can't imagine, well, if this was a junior high school or a high school, a principal being told, hey, here there's a gun, or you wouldn't immediately go check it out. I don't know if it had, if it played into the mindset of this assistant principal. It's a six year old. It's a six year old. No, of course you don't think a six year old would have a gun. But Jesus criminy, have we not learned a little better? So she's in trial in court. In, in court this morning. They're supposed to have jury selection and a heads up to anybody. As you were just mentioning, the live stream robes is important. The one camera thing and the one, the pool camera. We've watched a lot of trials. This one does not have good video or audio. There's one camera angle and the attorney's backs are to you, so you can't see their mouths moving at all to try to match with the audio. And the one defense attorney is kind of soft spoken, so just a heads up is actually hard to follow a little bit. And even the judge is a little soft spoken. So I just want to throw this out there. There's crappy audio.
Amy Robach
Yeah. If anyone at home, it wants to listen to it and watch these proceedings like we often do. No, just to, to, to play off of that you actually had. And we do this oftentimes when we're watching these trials. We have them up on a speaker in the house so we can really try to hear what's going on inside that courtroom. And even with that speaker, it's been difficult to understand exactly what's going on in that courtroom. But we certainly will be following this again, four to five days and there's already an issue. So they say that. But my goodness, if it's starting out this way, who knows how long this will last as the trial continues. But certainly there is so much at stake. And we are expecting, by the way, Abby Zwerner, the teacher who was shot in this case. And by the way, she, she's recovered, as we pointed out, with some injuries, but she is expected to testify in this trial as she did in the Civil lawsuit. And by all accounts, she is a compelling witness.
T.J. Holmes
But we don't know when we're going to see her. We don't know how exactly long this trial is going to go. We are told, like you just said, the number of days and what's expected. And that's certainly already. I just met this judge and she is not messing around with time. So jury selection supposed to get started this morning. They are in court. They are live as we speak. But they started out to address robes, a couple of issues that the attorneys had. One of them being the defense attorney who asked for a continuance right at the beginning. She almost laughed at him.
Amy Robach
She did. Because look this, by the way, this took place three years ago. The civil lawsuit, as we pointed out, was over with the November. They've had plenty of pretrial hearings and one as recently as last week. And so the judge said, you have an issue. Why are you bringing it up now? You didn't. You had several opportunities to bring up any sort of issue you had. And now day one of the trial is not the day to bring up this issue.
T.J. Holmes
I felt bad for him and it might have been why he was. I couldn't hear him because he was a little. Being a little softer in his requests because it seemed ridiculous. She talked about, you got the whole. We just had a trial, a civil trial. What do you mean? All the evidence is over there. They were making an argument this morning that they didn't have a particular piece of police body cam video. They claim that someone on that body cam video expressed that they thought the kid's gun was a toy gun. So this attorney is arguing, you know what, that one little bit of video, we don't have it. We can't find it. And that is exculpatory evidence. We think that could prove she's innocent in this case. We ain't got it. Need a continuance to go find it. She said, negro, please. And I say that because he is black and she is black as well. Sorry, this is how we talk to each other sometimes. She really looked at him like, are you effing kidding me? After all this time? The video exists. It's out there. You know it. You claim you don't have it. He. So he started out first thing this morning and she already has a group of 41 potential jurors sitting in the back waiting. There's one thing rogues we've noticed about judges, they hate to waste these people's time.
Amy Robach
Yep. And this woman from the get go looks like she is not going to. She made it very, very clear where she stands on this. And she does look to be a no nonsense kind of judge. We're learning a lot as we watch all these trials and different judges handle things distinctly. But certainly this woman looks as though she is not going to be taking any sort of delay tactics or anything that's going to, as you point out, waste the jurors time.
T.J. Holmes
10 minutes. I like her already. 10 minutes of watching her because she actually agreed with him. She said, you know what, I agree that based on she gave some case precedent and case law and all this stuff and this case thought this was Excel. She actually agreed that, yes, that could be entered as something exculpatory and you can make that argument at trial. Let's move on. Knock yourself out. But I'm not going to delay this trial once again because you can't find something or claim something that's been used in a trial that went on for months. You can't find. It seemed a little, don't know if that's the direction they're going to start going, but she wasn't having it. So I appreciate that very much. So yes, it seems like robes. This will be a quick trial because of her.
Amy Robach
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So as we continue to follow this story and certainly what ends up happening to Dr. Ebony Parker over the next coming days, when we come back, we're going to tell you about several other people who have also faced charges or had some sort of fallout based on what happened three years ago in that Newport News classroom. If you're always on the lookout for a great audiobook or just want help figuring out what to listen to next, there's a podcast you should know about.
T.J. Holmes
It's called earsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club.
Amy Robach
Hosted by Cal Penn, each episode takes a closer look at some of the most talked about new audiobooks on Audible, spanning a wide range of genres, sci fi and literary fiction to rom coms, thrillers and comedy.
T.J. Holmes
Kyle is joined by guests who dig into what these stories are about, what makes them stand out as audiobooks, and why they're connecting with listeners right now.
Amy Robach
If you're looking for your next listen, this is a great place to start.
T.J. Holmes
Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Bowen Yang
This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Research with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel impossible. That's why Premier Protein shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's not just for fitness, it's for getting after life. Premier Protein powers me to say yes to more. Find your favorite flavor@premierprotein. That's P R E M I E
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thoughts I I can't stop scratching my downtown. Mm, yeah, but I'm not itching to go downtown and tell a receptionist I'm here to talk about my downtown. Some things you'd rather type than say out loud.
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Amy Robach
Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and tj. We are covering the beginning of a historic trial in Newport News, Virginia. An assistant principal, a former assistant principal is now being held criminally responsible for her six year old student shooting his first grade teacher. The accusation is that she did not do what she should have done to prevent this shooting. There are at least, at least folks will be testifying at least three different times. She was warned, she was told that this six year old student had a loaded gun and she didn't do what she should have done. She shouldn't. She should have checked his bag. She should have searched the student. None of that took place and a first grade teacher was shot because of it. Now the boy's mother. I was curious about this Deja Taylor. She is actually currently behind bars. She is serving a four year sentence. She pleaded guilty to state and federal charges. But she and that makes a lot of sense. We have seen parents now being held criminally responsible. You would think that would have to be the case. You can't charge a six year old. And so authorities first and foremost went after his mother.
T.J. Holmes
Do I have right? She was serving for something. That sentence hasn't even started yet.
Amy Robach
Yes, correct. She had other issues going on which might lead to the situation where you find a child because that is the big question. How could a six year old. I always describe like that age, first graders, they are the sweetest, just sponges. They're absorbing everything. And unfortunately he was absorbing, it appears, all the wrong things in that house. It was difficult. But several school officials also lost their jobs in this case as well. We know the assistant principal who's now on trial and is. She resigned almost immediately two weeks after the shooting. But the principal in the school was reassigned. School board voted out the superintendent. There have been some significant fallout in addition. And this makes sense, Newport News Public Schools implemented significant security changes after this. I didn't realize this. Can you imagine? Just we send Sabine to school. All Students Kindergarten through 12th grade in Newport News have to use clear backpacks.
T.J. Holmes
I'm okay with that. Or across the country. I don't mind that in the least bit. In the least bit. I have a problem with the yonder pouches that you have to lock your phones up every day. But if you want everybody to walk in clear and eliminate one part of the problem, sure, maybe a kid could put it in his waistband, put it in his pocket, put, fine. But I got zero problem with that. And I wish more would address that versus taking the phone away from a kid who might be able to call when there is an emergency. So I'm sorry those moma parenting. I got a middle schooler here, so. But now I haven't heard anybody else doing that. And I'm okay with it.
Amy Robach
That's the first. I mean obviously if you attend any sort of a game in a stadium, a football game, a basketball game, a concert even, we're kind of used to these clear bags. And that actually makes me feel safer going into a stadium, going into any large crowd, knowing that everyone's gone through the same checkpoint and certainly only has clear bags. But I had never heard of clear backpacks for students. But that was put into place after this shooting. In addition, they are now weapon detection systems across all middle and high schools in Newport News.
T.J. Holmes
That's yeah, fine to be careful, be safe, but you don't want kids to feel like they're going into a prison every time they're going to school. But you also want them to feel safe when they go into school. So there's some balancing act there. But I'm, I'm just okay with all these things you're putting in place. There's another system you can put in place that when somebody says the kid has a gun, you go look in the bag. We're doing all this because somebody didn't look in a bag when they were told a gun was in the bag. Okay.
Amy Robach
Yeah. And this kid, I mean by all accounts you were mentioning on the, on that schoolyard during lunch, basically because the shooting happened around 2pm but when they were all out for recess, he was, as you said, showing kids the gun and then telling them, if you tell anyone, I'll show, shoot and kill you. So this was a kid who came in with the mission and just thank goodness that first grade teacher survived.
T.J. Holmes
Not an accidental shooting. It's part of it. You first hear, it's like, oh my goodness, he brought a gun and something happened. No, no, no, no. He pulled this thing out and with, with intent they say was pulling the trigger. What the actual. A six year old? I don't know a six year old I've ever met in my life that I thought was capable of something like that.
Amy Robach
No. And that, that could possibly be part of her defense. Like who would ever think a single six year old not only would bring a gun, a loaded gun, and then know how to aim and shoot that gun.
T.J. Holmes
What was their argument? There was some language they were using to why she wasn't legally responsible. She didn't have. That was, I can't remember the. But they did have a defense. Obviously didn't work in the civil trial, but they might be hoping, or at least the teacher is hoping, that the assistant principal is found not guilty in the criminal trial. This is wild. Now that the Virginia. Was it school risk association or shared risk association is this pool of insurers who are the ones on the hook for paying the 10 million. If the assistant principal is found guilty, they could argue we don't have any liability now because it was actually criminal behavior that caused the incident. We don't have to pay.
Amy Robach
Wow.
T.J. Holmes
So the teacher who now won the civil judgment is sitting and maybe hoping this woman is acquitted so she can get a 10 million.
Amy Robach
I had not thought about it.
T.J. Holmes
It's called the Virginia Risk Sharing Association. This group of insurers that does it and they're standing by robes.
Amy Robach
Wow.
T.J. Holmes
To see what happens. I can't imagine the teacher having to look in one civil trial. Want her guilty. Criminal trial, I want her guilty. But that means I don't get my money.
Amy Robach
Well, she's going to be testifying, so that will be very interesting to see if that plays at all in what she says, how she says it and what the jury thinks about her testimony. But we will be watching this trial. It will be fascinating and it will be precedent setting. So we always appreciate you listening to us everyone. I'm Amy Robach alongside T.J. holmes. We will talk to you soon. If audiobooks are your thing or you've been meaning to listen to more of them, you should check out a podcast called earsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club. Hosted by Cal Penn.
T.J. Holmes
Each episode spotlights standout audiobooks on Audible across all kinds of genres, Sci fi, comedy, romance, thrillers and more. With Cal talking to guests who help break down what makes each story worth listening.
Amy Robach
A fun, easy way to discover your next great audiobook.
T.J. Holmes
Check out Earsay on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Geico Ad Speaker
Geico presents a 30 second podcast between your podcast Today's story is shared by one of our listeners. It's called Betrayed by Bill. It was in that moment I caught who was staring back at me in betrayal or more like what, my insurance bill. With trembling hands, I grabbed my phone and switched to geico, saving about $900 in the process and never to be betrayed again. Now that was bloody riveting.
Geico/Amazon Health AI Ad Speaker
It feels good when the story ends with savings. It feels good to Geico.
Bowen Yang
This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Research with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel impossible. That's why Premier protein shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar, and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's not just for fitness, it's for getting after life. 30 grams of protein gives you the fuel you need. It's not just for intense gym sessions, it's just for life. With the wide variety of flavors from cafe latte to cake batter, it never feels boring. There's a flavor for everyone. I personally love the peaches and cream, but maybe you're a root beer floater cinnamon roll kind of person. Premier Protein powers me to say yes to more Find favorite flavor@premierprotein.com that's P R E M I E R protein.com or at Amazon, Walmart and other major retailers.
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Amy Robach
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
Podcast: Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present
Episode: Criminal Trial Begins For Assistant Principal, Charged After First Grader Shoots Teacher
Date: May 18, 2026
Hosts: Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes
This episode covers the historic beginning of the criminal trial of Dr. Ebony Parker, a former assistant principal in Newport News, Virginia, who faces eight felony counts of child neglect after a six-year-old student brought a loaded gun to school and shot his first-grade teacher, Abby Zwerner, in 2023. The episode explores the legal, ethical, and practical ramifications of holding school administrators criminally responsible for student actions, examines the details and fallout of the case, and discusses implications for school safety and educational policy across the country.
"There were at least three different occasions where she was told there were suspicions this kid was bragging about this, this gun to kids throughout the day ... she failed in her duties to search for, fully searched this child to make sure this child didn't have a gun."
– Amy Robach ([04:10])
"You're told a kid has a gun and you don't even open the bag is confusing and is a, a unique situation ... Jesus criminy, have we not learned a little better?"
– T.J. Holmes ([07:37])
"Can you imagine ... all Students Kindergarten through 12th grade in Newport News have to use clear backpacks."
– Amy Robach ([17:57])
"I can't imagine the teacher having to look ... civil trial, want her guilty. Criminal trial, I want her guilty. But that means I don't get my money."
– T.J. Holmes ([21:35])
"We're doing all this because somebody didn't look in a bag when they were told a gun was in the bag."
– T.J. Holmes ([19:14])
“This has, I mean nobody can find another case ... This time it's an assistant principal.”
– T.J. Holmes ([02:37])
"She failed in her duties to search for, fully searched this child to make sure this child didn't have a gun."
– Amy Robach ([04:10])
"She really looked at him like, are you effing kidding me?"
– T.J. Holmes ([10:47])
"Can you imagine ... Kindergarten through 12th grade in Newport News have to use clear backpacks."
– Amy Robach ([17:57])
"She will die with that bullet inside her."
– Amy Robach ([04:10])
"We are covering the beginning of a historic trial ... This will be precedent setting."
– Amy Robach ([15:51], [21:45])
This episode delves into the complex, precedent-setting criminal trial of Dr. Ebony Parker, scrutinizing the layers of responsibility in a tragic school shooting involving a very young child. The hosts analyze the legal arguments, school system failures, personal tragedies, and community-level policy responses resulting from the case. The fallout could have ripple effects on how schools nationwide approach safety, accountability, and administrative policy for years to come.
The trial continues to unfold, with key testimony anticipated from Abby Zwerner and the nation watching for its outcome and implications.