Jury’s $10 million award to teacher shot by 6-year-old could weigh on school administrator’s criminal case

Abby Zwerner shares a moment Thursday with her mother, Julie Zwerner, after a verdict was reached in her lawsuit against former Assistant Principal Ebony Parker of Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. Kendall Warner/The Virginian-Pilot/TNS/Getty Images

A civil jury’s decision this week to award $10 million to a former teacher shot and wounded by a 6-year-old student could weigh against the ex-assistant principal who now faces a criminal trial over the 2023 incident, legal experts said.

Teacher Abby Zwerner sued then-administrator Ebony Parker for not doing enough to prevent the shooting at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. Zwerner still feels the effects of bullet wounds to her chest and hand, she testified in the civil trial at which her pain and