Judge DISMISSES Charges Against Dr. Ebony Parker Before Jury Deliberates | RECAP

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[00:00:00]This is Dr. Ebony Parker. And back in 2023, she was the assistant principal for Richnick Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. But this week, she's been sitting in a courtroom facing eight counts of child abuse charges stemming from an incident that happened at her school. And I'm not a lawyer, but on day three of her trial, there was an ending that nobody was expecting. So, let me fill you in on what both sides argued and why the judge ultimately made a decision before the jury ever could.

[00:00:28]Now, before I dive in, if Dr. Parker is looking familiar to you, that's probably because back in November, Dr. Parker was sued by a teacher at her school over this same incident. Dr. Parker lost that case, and the jury determined that she was liable for what happened to the teacher. So, that was the civil case, but the case Dr. Parker has been facing this week has been her criminal case, which has a much higher standard. Okay, so background on the case is that this is Abigail Zorner and back in 2023, she was a first grade teacher at Richnick Elementary and teacher Abby had a rather problematic child in her classroom whose initials are JT. For example, on January 4th, 2023, JT took Miss Warner's cell phone and threw it across the room, cracking the screen.

[00:01:11]>> Um, and so how did you get your phone?

[00:01:14]Did you know? Um, it was our small reading group time and my phone had rang across the classroom, my school phone, and when I had went gone back to my small reading group table, I saw him with my cell phone.

[00:01:32]>> Okay. And what was he doing? Do you remember how he looked at that moment?

[00:01:36]>> Just very defiant, almost kind of a a challenging base.

[00:01:41]>> Was he at school the next day?

[00:01:43]>> No. And then did he come to school on January 6th?

[00:01:47]>> Yes.

[00:01:48]>> Okay.

[00:01:49]>> JT wasn't allowed to come back to school the next day, but he does return on January 6th, 2023. And on that day, students in his class begin reporting that he has a gun.

[00:01:59]>> During the course of the day, did you become aware that a child was armed?

[00:02:03]>> Yes.

[00:02:04]>> And is that because someone told you the child was armed?

[00:02:07]>> Yes.

[00:02:08]>> Who told you that?

[00:02:09]>> Our reading specialist, Amy Kovac. So, the girls had reported to me, had come up to me um as I was passing right after they came in to say that he had a gun in the bag. And I went into that room um with the children and to him to try and see what he would say to see if I could help and figure out what was going on. I told him the rules of school that we cannot have any guns in school. we cannot have any type of weapon in school. And I asked him if he had a gun in the back. We went on with the lesson.

[00:02:48]He was acting very weird that day, out of character, baldled up. I just sat quietly by him. His bag was by him. Um I said, "Give me that bag." He said, "No one's going to touch that bag." Which was very out of character. At that point, I left the room right away and went to Dr. Parker's office.

[00:03:06]>> Around 11:45 a.m., Miss Kovac tells Dr. Parker about the gun and tells Dr. Parker that when the class goes to recess, she's going to go back to Miss Warner's class and check JT's backpack.

[00:03:17]And that's exactly what she did.

[00:03:19]>> When they were at recess, I went back to the room. I checked his bag. Um, inside his bag was a puzzle, a math book, um, a little coin token, and then a calculator in the front pocket.

[00:03:32]>> After not finding anything in JT's bag and believing that he now had it on his person, Miss Kovac warns Dr. Parker for a second time about JT potentially having a gun.

[00:03:42]>> I advised her that the weapon in discussion was now in his jacket pocket.

[00:03:49]>> And that was your belief?

[00:03:51]>> That was my belief.

[00:03:52]>> Okay.

[00:03:52]>> Now, while all of this is happening, JT is out at recess with all of the other students. And while he's out there, his teacher, Miss Warner, as well as another first grade teacher, make some interesting observations. I noticed that the student was wearing an oversized jacket with both of his hands in his pockets that remained in his pockets the entire time. He and another student um kept going behind the rock wall and there's a large tree on the playground.

[00:04:23]They kept they were staying together, very close together. Um, they kept going behind the rock wall, going behind the tree, kind of being secretive. Um, trying to avoid other people.

[00:04:35]>> After recess, the student JT was hiding behind the tree with reports to one of the teachers that JT has a gun.

[00:04:42]>> He Well, he first said he couldn't tell me. And I reassured that he could. And he said, "I can't." He said that he would hurt us, that he would blow us up.

[00:04:49]He was referring to JT at the time. And then he said that JT had a gun. And at that time I asked him what it looked like to kind of confirm whether it was real or not. And he said that um he saw the bullets and I said what color? And he said they were bullet colored. And at that point he was crying. And I had RR come into my classroom. I did. I called the front office to report what RR had told me.

[00:05:15]>> At this point the school counselor is also informed about JT having a gun. And so he goes to Dr. Parker's office and specifically asks if he can physically search JT for the gun. But Dr. Parker advises that JT was on a modified schedule and that his mother would be there soon to pick him up. However, before JT's mother can come and pick him up, JT takes the gun out of his jacket pocket and shoots his first grade teacher, Miss Warner.

[00:05:39]>> I saw at the corner of my eye my brick roll that student had. I saw the student looking at me. I looked over. Um, a gun was pointed right at me. He was holding a gun. the student. It was pointed right at me and then I was shot. Um, it went through my left hand and into my chest.

[00:05:58]>> Now, Miss Warner was the only person physically shot that day, but because the gun was initially loaded with eight bullets, prosecutors charged Dr. Ebony Parker with eight counts of child abuse with reckless disregard for life, arguing that every child in that classroom was put in danger because of Dr. Parker's lack of action. At the moment that he fires that weapon, there are 19 children right there.

[00:06:26]And that's why I tell you that this case is not about Miss Werner. This case is about the 19 children whose lives were endangered in that moment, but in the moments before as well. Those children were some of them between the gun and this order.

[00:06:43]Some of them a slight movement of the gun could have hit a child instead of Miss Wter. They're right there. Some standing shoulderto-shoulder with the shooter. All of them, you'll learn, watched as their teacher clutched her chest and bled before these children, screaming in horror, ran across the hallway to another teacher's classroom and Miss Werner ran to the office and collapsed on the floor.

[00:07:09]>> So, the question jurors had to determine was whether Dr. Dr. Parker's inaction rose to the level of criminal child abuse. And just to be clear, Dr. Parker being charged with child abuse with reckless disregard for life means what Dr. Parker did that day wasn't just careless. It means that her choice to not even leave her office was so reckless and so negligent that she completely disregarded the safety and the lives of all of the children in that classroom. There was only one person that had both the knowledge of the ongoing crisis and the authority to act.

[00:07:42]>> Now, one of the key issues in this trial had to do with the school district's crisis plan and what teachers and administrators each have the authority to do in a crisis. Here's a clip of the school district's director of human resources reading what administrators can do. Principles and school security officers under the direction of a school administrator may search students and and student property including automobiles and other vehicles when there is reasonable suspicion to do so.

[00:08:09]Students should understand that they have no expectation of privacy to their lockers, personal property, or vehicles allowed to park on school property.

[00:08:19]consistent with applicable legal requirements. School division personnel may use search techniques such as metal detectors and use other lawful search techniques.

[00:08:29]If a student or other person makes a threat with or about a weapon, gun, knife, or other weapon, evacuate the area.

[00:08:43]Evaluate the preer per prep perpetrator, excuse me. Evaluate the perpetrator.

[00:08:49]Isolate. Consider lockdown.

[00:08:52]Notify law enforcement.

[00:08:55]Remain calm. Get help. Avoid heroics. Do not threaten. Keep a safe, non-intimidating distance. Avoid abrupt sporadic movements.

[00:09:10]Look for an escape route.

[00:09:14]And now here's a clip of what the defense has her read in regards to what teachers have the authority to do.

[00:09:19]>> The code 22.1-276.2 provides statutory guidance related to the initial authority of a teacher to remove a student from class for disruptive behavior. The provisions set out below are supplementary to and are not intended to replace the authority of a teacher or administrator to discipline students according to rules described in this handbook.

[00:09:50]>> Does this manual uh which cites Virginia code give a teacher the authority to remove a student from the classroom?

[00:09:57]>> Yes. So, uh, you would agree that they if they thought that there was a weapon that, uh, each of those individuals should have evacuated the area. Is that correct?

[00:10:06]>> Correct.

[00:10:07]>> So, the defense's main argument is that Dr. Parker's inaction may have been a mistake, but it was not criminal and certainly not reckless. And they point to the phone throwing incident as an example. Because after JT threw Miss Warner's cell phone across the classroom, Miss Warner herself had JT removed from her classroom and then personally spoke with Dr. Parker about what happened. And so, according to the defense, that shows that Miss Warner and Miss Kovak were both aware that they have the authority to isolate JT from the class when they believe there's a serious issue. But they didn't do that in this shooting incident because they didn't truly believe he had a gun. So if she thought there was a gun present, then her action should have been to separate JT from classmates or separate classmates from JT. She didn't do that on her actions. There was no based upon her actions. There was no question.

[00:11:11]So, as a part of what happened, the school district conducted their own investigation into all of the actions and inactions of all of the staff, and Dr. Parker gave a recorded interview on what happened. So, here are some clips of what she had to say about her understanding of the school's policy and her actions. One quick context note is that on the day this incident happened, the school was in the middle of state testing, and Dr. Parker as the assistant principal was in charge of overseeing testing tickets which she says required her to not leave her office. She's going to mention that in the clip. So that's just some background.

[00:11:45]>> What is your understanding of what should have taken place from the first notification that you received about the student from Miss Coat possibly having a weapon?

[00:11:56]What we did um in previous times before we had two other students who also reported to have a weapon um and we you know asked the student you know if do you have something that say you know no we do have someone else come in with us it took him in a backpack um but we never searched a student so because we didn't you know this car didn't see anything in the backpack then I didn't we didn't we didn't do anything from there his mother does come in every and we had we have a conversation every day. So I was waiting for mom to come in.

[00:12:30]>> So in the past protocols and what you've done at correcting me for mom, you've brought the student into your office >> and you along with who who else?

[00:12:39]>> So the first time it was Mr. RS um and then the second time it was an incident of a parent had already called the police because her the um the report was given to her from her son. So she had already called the police. So the second time it was the police was at the school.

[00:12:57]>> Okay. All right. Had Mrs. Warner on that on that Friday come to you and expressed concern about the student um about the student's behavior or did she express that she thought the student had a weapon?

[00:13:10]>> No. So Miss Warner never said that she thought that the student had a weapon and she never said to me directly that it was report to her that the student had a weapon. But no, Miss Zer never came to me and said anything about her feeling that the student had weapons or that she felt unsafe. She she did she didn't say it.

[00:13:28]>> At any point in time prior to Friday, did Miss Warner have a report with you that she had concerns about the student or or about her safety with that student?

[00:13:38]>> No. The concerns were around the student and his behavior. Never has she said, "I feel unsafe."

[00:13:45]I want to go back real quick cuz I want to make sure I'm clear on something.

[00:13:49]Miss Kovac, check the bag. What's Miss Kovac's title?

[00:13:54]>> She's our specialist.

[00:13:56]>> So, help me understand why Miss Kovac would Why did you direct Miss Kovac to check the bag?

[00:14:04]>> So, in the midst of testing, I don't remove myself from the office. And what when the conversation we had was should you check his bag and the reason why we waited to till they went out to recess because I couldn't leave to go and check the bag. So it was my director that said Miss Kovac when they go out to recess check his bag.

[00:14:28]>> Okay. So that was essentially the case.

[00:14:30]The prosecutor ended their presentation with testimony from parents of some of the students talking about how their children have been changed by the situation and then after that the prosecution rested. Now, once the prosecution rested, the defense made what's called a motion for judgment of a quiddle. This is something that always happens when the prosecution is done presenting their case. And in layman's terms, it's basically the defense saying, "Hey, judge, now that you've seen all of the prosecution's evidence, their case is so weak that you should just dismiss this case right now and not even let it go to the jury." And although these motions are hardly ever granted, in this case, the judge agreed with a defense kind of. In layman's terms, the judge dismissed the charges against Dr. Ebony Parker because according to her, even if Dr. Parker did what the prosecutor said she did, it does not meet the standard for what she was charged with. For example, the prosecutors seem to be arguing that Dr. Parker violated the school's policy. But the judge is noting that violating a school policy isn't the same as violating a law. Uh, is the crime that Evan Parker didn't follow New policy and procedure? Is the crime that Dr. Parker didn't direct a search of the child's person after being informed that the book bag was clear? Also being that the policy says that students must be searched by two people. Is the crime that Dr. Parker didn't get a second administrator to help her search him?

[00:15:52]particularly considering that the two other administrators that would have searched with her were both not available at the time >> of which the security officer was on site at a different school performing their duties and the principal the other administrator uh present um that's known to known in this proceeding uh was in scheduled meetings during testing.

[00:16:10]>> The judge questioned the theory behind Dr. Parker being charged with eight counts of child abuse. She notes that if the eight counts were truly based on the number of bullets that were in the gun, that would be unprecedented because prior case law supports that charges are brought based on discharged rounds, not bullets that were never fired.

[00:16:28]>> Are the a counts of the indictment based upon the number of children in the room when the firearm went off? Are the a counts of the indictment based upon unfired bullets remaining in the firearm, which would be contrary to established case law as they have to be discharged? Is it the emotional trauma of the exposed child who was in the classroom? Is that the reckless discard human life? Is it because JT wasn't expelled prior to January 6, 2023 due to his previous behaviors um which presumably would be in the province of the prior principles, Dr. Goodman and then Miss Foster? Or is the crime the lack of heightened response from Ebony Parker due to her awareness of prior issues with JT? The court is unclear.

[00:17:11]And as previously stated, those legal theories do not fit the plain meaning of the statute. If they are amount if they are up to amount to a crime, then the legislature will need to codify it. Um, therefore, I do bring defense motion to strike in hold on all counts all eight counts of felony child abuse and endangerment under indictment CR indictment number 2499 541-01308.

[00:17:39]So those matters are dismissed.

[00:17:41]>> So the judge rules that none of the prosecution's theories fit the language for the laws they say Dr. Parker violated. And because of that, the judge dismisses all of the charges. Also, because I know you're probably wondering, the principal was there, but she was in meetings, so she never even knew that any of this was happening.

[00:17:59]Prior to that event occurring at your school, did anyone tell you that JT or anyone that there was a weapon on campus?

[00:18:12]>> Any hint from anyone that there was a weapon on your campus prior to that?

[00:18:18]>> And in regards to JT's parents, his mother plead guilty to state charges of felony child neglect and federal gun charges. She served a couple of years but has now been released. and JT himself was never charged. Okay, so that's the case.