A Newport News Circuit Court jury has begun deliberating in the case of a Richneck Elementary School teacher shot by a 6-year-old student in 2023.

The seven-member jury received the case about 3 p.m. after hearing about two hours of closing arguments from the attorneys.

Abby Zwerner, then 25, was shot sitting at a table during her first-grade reading class on Jan. 6, 2023 when her student pulled out a gun and fired a single round at her. The bullet went through her hand, with a fragment lodged in her chest.

In a trial that has lasted a week , Zwerner’s attorneys have contended that Richneck Assistant Principal Ebony Parker was grossly negligent that day. They assert she ignored several warnings that the boy had a gun in school.

“Every minute matters,” said an attorney for Zwerner,

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