Overview
- Opening statements began Tuesday, and Abby Zwerner testified as the first witness in Ebony Parker’s trial on eight felony child neglect counts.
- Prosecutors said multiple staffers warned Parker for more than an hour that the first grader might have a gun, yet she neither ordered a search, called police, nor removed the child from class.
- The defense argued the shooting was not foreseeable and said other staff, including the teacher, could have separated the child from classmates if they believed a gun was present.
- Jurors heard that school policy limited searches to an administrator or security officer, the security officer was off campus, and the principal was not told, which prosecutors say left Parker as the only informed official with authority to act.
- The stakes are high: each count carries up to five years in prison, and the verdict could affect whether a separate $10 million civil award to Zwerner is covered by the school system’s insurer.