By Eric Levenson, Cindy Von Quednow, CNN

(CNN) — More than three years after a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher in class, a former Virginia elementary school official accused of ignoring warnings is set to stand trial on felony child abuse charges Monday.

Ebony Parker was the assistant principal at Richneck Elementary in Newport News in January 2023 when the boy brought a gun to school and shot first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner in the chest and hand. The teacher survived.

The boy had taken the unsecured gun from his mother’s purse and brought it to school in his backpack, officials have said.

Parker was charged in 2024 with eight counts of felony child abuse and disregard for life – one for each bullet in the gun the student used. Prosecutors allege she committed “a willful act or omission in the care of such students, in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life,” according to court documents.

She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Each count is considered a class 6 felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The trial is expected to last about three days.

An attorney for Parker did not respond to a request for comment.

Parker’s criminal trial is one of a number of cases in recent years that have tested the limits of who is responsible when a juvenile carries out a school shooting. Parents in Michigan and Georgia have been convicted of serious charges, but Parker appears to be the first educator to face trial in such circumstances.

In November, a civil jury awarded Zwerner $10 million in a lawsuit alleging Parker failed to act on concerns that the student had brought a gun to school. Parker has filed an appeal.

Notably, Zwerner testified in the trial about the moment of the shooting and its impact on her life. Parker did not testify in her own defense.

While civil and criminal trials are different, the civil case offered a preview of some of the arguments and testimony likely to come up in the criminal case.

The boy’s mother, Deja Taylor, pleaded guilty to a state charge of felony child neglect and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2023, as well as a 21-month sentence on related federal charges. She was released from state custody to community supervision on May 13, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections.

Prosecutors have said the boy, who has “extreme emotional issues,” will not be criminally charged.

The shooting and aftermath

Zwerner was sitting at a table in her classroom on January 6, 2023, when the 6-year-old boy shot her.

In the aftermath, several school officials lost their jobs: Parker resigned two weeks after the shooting, the principal was reassigned and the school board voted out the superintendent.

After leaving the hospital, Zw

By Eric Levenson, Cindy Von Quednow, CNN

(CNN) — More than three years after a 6-year-old boy shot his teacher in class, a former Virginia elementary school official accused of ignoring warnings is set to stand trial on felony child abuse charges Monday.

Ebony Parker was the assistant principal at Richneck Elementary in Newport News in January 2023 when the boy brought a gun to school and shot first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner in the chest and hand. The teacher survived.

The boy had taken the unsecured gun from his mother’s purse and brought it to school in his backpack, officials have said.

Parker was charged in 2024 with eight counts of felony child abuse and disregard for life – one for each bullet in the gun the student used. Prosecutors allege she committed “a willful act or omission in the care of such students, in a manner so gross, wanton and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life,” according to court documents.

She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Each count is considered a class 6 felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The trial is expected to last about three days.

An attorney for Parker did not respond to a request for comment.

Parker’s criminal trial is one of a number of cases in recent years that have tested the limits of who is responsible when a juvenile carries out a school shooting. Parents in Michigan and Georgia have been convicted of serious charges, but Parker appears to be the first educator to face trial in such circumstances.

In November, a civil jury awarded Zwerner $10 million in a lawsuit alleging Parker failed to act on concerns that the student had brought a gun to school. Parker has filed an appeal.

Notably, Zwerner testified in the trial about the moment of the shooting and its impact on her life. Parker did not testify in her own defense.

While civil and criminal trials are different, the civil case offered a preview of some of the arguments and testimony likely to come up in the criminal case.

The boy’s mother, Deja Taylor, pleaded guilty to a state charge of felony child neglect and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2023, as well as a 21-month sentence on related federal charges. She was released from state custody to community supervision on May 13, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections.

Prosecutors have said the boy, who has “extreme emotional issues,” will not be criminally charged.

The shooting and aftermath

Zwerner was sitting at a table in her classroom on January 6, 2023, when the 6-year-old boy shot her.

In the aftermath, several school officials lost their jobs: Parker resigned two weeks after the shooting, the principal was reassigned and the school board voted out the superintendent.

After leaving the hospital, Zw

By Nicki Brown, Kara Scannell, CNN

(CNN) — Luigi Mangione, the 28-year-old accused of killing a healthcare company executive, will appear Monday in court where a judge will decide whether the alleged murder weapon and other key evidence can be allowed into his state murder case.

Mangione’s attorneys argue police illegally searched his backpack when he was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s in December 2024, days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot on a busy Manhattan sidewalk.

Police recovered several items from Mangione’s bag that authorities say tie him to the killing, including a 3D-printed gun, a loaded magazine and writings detailing frustrations with the healthcare industry.

Mangione’s defense attorneys are pushing for those items, and the backpack’s other contents, to be barred from the state’s case since they allege it was searched illegally without a warrant. Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have denied the defense claims and insisted the searches were legal and proper.

If New York State Judge Gregory Carro rules in favor of Mangione, prosecutors may not be allowed to show jurors key pieces of evidence, including the alleged murder weapon and the so-called “manifesto.”

The defense team is also moving to suppress any statements Mangione made to law enforcement before his December 19, 2024, extradition to New York, arguing police did not properly read his Miranda warnings – which advise a person of their rights to remain silent and consult an attorney – before they began questioning him.

Carro’s anticipated ruling comes months after a nine-day suppression hearing that included hours of footage from police body-worn cameras showing how the arrest unfolded and testimony from multiple law enforcement officers about the searches.

The case has generated a national debate and put a spotlight on public sentiment about the American healthcare system. Mangione has seen an outpouring of support on social media and at the courthouse, even as officials – including then-Attorney General Pam Bondi – have roundly condemned the killing as a “cold-blooded assassination.”

The Ivy League graduate faces second-degree murder and eight other charges in the state’s case, which is scheduled to go to trial in September. He is also facing federal charges related to Thompson’s killing, in addition to state charges in Pennsylvania stemming from his arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Mangione’s defense attempted to get much of the same evidence thrown out of the federal prosecution, but the judge overseeing that case denied their motion earlier this year.

“[T]he entire contents of the Backpack fall squarely within several exceptions to the warrant requirement,” US District Court Judge Margaret Garnett wrote in her January order.

Although Garnett sided with federal prosecutors on the backpack evidence, Mangione’s defense team has won other legal victories, including getting the top charges in his New Yo

By Simone McCarthy, John Liu, CNN

Beijing/Hong Kong (CNN) — When the wheels of Air Force One lifted up from Beijing on Friday, US President Trump was wrapping a three-day visit with many questions still outstanding about what exactly he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had agreed to.

Over the weekend, statements from both sides have started to demystify the outcomes of a meeting that was largely about resetting the tone between the world’s top economies after a fractious year that drove both to the edge of decoupling.

Now, the US and China are poised to set up two new institutions – a “board of trade” and a “board of investment” – to manage those economic ties, statements from the White House and China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed Sunday.

The White House also said that China would purchase at least $17 billion per year of US agricultural products and make an initial purchase of 200 American-made Boeing aircraft.

Beijing’s readout did not directly confirm those deals, saying instead that both sides would “promote expanded two-way trade” in agricultural goods and had made arrangements on China procuring American planes.

Both announcements are short on specifics and fall short of a major breakthrough in rebalancing trade.

But they bolster signals set out by both Trump and Xi during their summit that they want to avoid volatility and increase cooperation – setting their countries’ rivalry on more predictable ground.

The two sides last year were locked in a tit-for-tat trade battle that upended supply chains, including of the strategically critical rare earths that Beijing holds a near monopoly on refining.

Xi and Trump agreed to a year-long truce during a meeting last October, and their latest summit has ushered in a new goal for their ties: achieving what both sides have dubbed a “constructive relationship of strategic stability.”

Outcomes announced so far also spotlight where daylight and frictions continue to exist. There’s little sign, too, of how they’ll work together on one of the thorniest issues: tech.

Beijing, for its part, also makes clear that there’s more to be hammered out by negotiators in the weeks and months to come, calling the current results “preliminary.”

A $17 billion win?

The main topline number from the White House following the talks is $17 billion – the minimum amount Washington says China has agreed to purchase of American farm goods annually through 2028.

The $17 billion will come on top of the soybean purchase commitments that Beijing made in October 2025, during the summit between the two leaders in South Korea, which led to their trade truce.

That level of purchases would be a big jump from last year, when US agricultural exports to China totalled only $8.4 billion, according to US government data. But it’s not far off from levels in 2024, the last year of the Biden administration and before Trump’s tariff war.

The $17 billion agreement to purchase US agricultural goods plus its existing commitment to buy 25 million metric tons of soybeans will amount to roughly $27 billion in value per year, according to a CNN calculation based on the prices of soybeans exported to China last year. That’s slightly higher than the $24.4 billion worth of US agricultural exports to China in 2024, data from the US Department of Agriculture showed.

The White House factsheet did not provide further details on what it called China’s agreement to an “initial purchase” of 200 Boeing aircraft, which the American aerospace giant has yet to publicly confirm.

China’s Commerce Ministry merely confirmed arran

By Sunlen Serfaty, Devan Cole, Dugald McConnell, CNN

(CNN) — Workers with boots dyed an “American Flag Blue” have painted over about two-thirds of the iconic Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, covering the dull gray with bright azure following a directive by President Donald Trump to expedite the pace of the project.

Trump earlier this month laid out a timeline that put the project on track to be done this week. However, workers on the ground told CNN recently that they need another month until they are finished, and Trump said Saturday it “should be completed” by July 4, ahead of the US’ 250th birthday.

Time has quickly become one of the most essential factors in this project — one of many in Washington, DC, where Trump is racing to put his stamp on the nation’s capital.

As Trump is charging forward with overhauling the Reflecting Pool, controversy and derision have intensified, bringing a lawsuit that threatens to stop the project mid-paint job, potentially leaving the 2,800-foot pool on the National Mall only partially painted in the blue color he chose.

That court fight is coming to a head this week, when a judge will decide whether to issue an injunction sought by a DC nonprofit.

Trump has disparaged the state of the Reflecting Pool, saying it is feces-infested and in disrepair. He has zeroed in on the color, which he claims no one likes. And he contends that previous administrations failed to repair leaks and other problems.

But critics fear the Reflecting Pool will look more like a swimming pool, with the shine of a country club, like the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. They also contend the administration is skipping required reviews that must be completed before work gets underway — and that the pool will actually be less reflective.

Trump posted images Saturday of a “sample test” at the Reflecting Pool, showing the painted pool with a small amount of water.

Critics: Trump is painting over history

For historians, the new blue paint is more than just a bold aesthetic choice they are simply not fond of — many view the move as Trump painting over history. They note the storied national landmark was the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and the Vietnam War protests.

“It’s not supposed to look like you’re going to dive in and swim; it is intended to reflect the great geometry of the classical temple that is the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument,” said Judy Scott Feldman, of the National Mall Coalition, a nonprofit that helps protect the area’s legacy.

“It wasn’t intended as a place that looks jolly like your local golf course,” she added. “The intention is to create both beauty but also to symbolically link the father of the country with the preserver of the country.”

Feldman, of course, is referring first to George Washington, whose monument stands at the other end of the Reflecting Pool, and then to Abraham Lincoln.

Trump has also been intentional about his color choice, a vibrant shade of dark blue that he calls “American Flag Blue.”

“It’s much more beautiful than it was new because it never had the color people wanted, but now it’s going to have the great color,” Trump said earlier this month, as he drove in his presidential motorcade across the drained pool to survey the work.

The Interior Department told CNN in a statement that the color choice will “enhance the visitor experience” and improve reflection over the existing gray concrete.

Charles Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, the nonprofit that’s challenging the project in court, couldn’t disagree more and insists visitors would miss out on seeing themselves in the water as “part of the commemorative landscape.”