The mother of the Virginia 6-year-old boy who shot his first-grade teacher in January was sentenced Wednesday (Nov. 15) to 21 months in prison on federal charges, USA Today reports.

In June, Deja Taylor pleaded guilty in federal court to using marijuana while owning a gun and lying about her drug use on a federal form. 

She also faces state sentencing in December. The 26-year-old mother pleaded guilty in August to state felony child neglect.

Police said the child shot his teacher Abby Zwerner with a 9mm handgun in their Richneck Elementary School classroom in Newport News on Jan. 6, striking her in the left hand and upper torso. She was hospitalized for two weeks and underwent multiple surgeries.

According to authorities, Taylor’s son told police that he climbed on top of a dresser and took his mom’s gun out of her purse.

Taylor is a chronic marijuana user, prosecutors argued. Investigators found 24 grams of weed in her bedroom and drug paraphernalia. 

Her attorney said she needs counseling for substance abuse and mental health treatment for schizoaffective disorder. He asked the court to grant an alternative to incarceration.

According to the Mayo Clinic, schizoaffective disorder is marked by a combination of schizophrenia symptoms, including hallucinations, and mood disorder symptoms, such as depression or mania.

Taylor took responsibility for the shooting and apologized to his teacher in a May interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America.

She said her son has ADHD, which she believes may have played a role in the shooting.

The family previously released a statement that he was under a care plan at school that required a parent to accompany him daily to class. “The week of the shooting was the first week when we were not in class with him,” the statement read.

Taylor told ABC News that school officials decided that family members no longer needed to be present in the classroom because her son started taking medication and was meeting his academic goals.

Taylor said her son liked his teacher but felt that she wasn’t listening to him in the days before the shooting.

“I will say that week he felt he was being ignored,” Taylor stated. She said he told her, “Mom, I don’t think she was listening to me. I don’t like that.”

When asked what she would say to Zwerner, Taylor said, “I just truly would like to apologize. … We were actually kind of forming a relationship, with me having to be in the classroom.”

Zwerner has filed a $40 million lawsuit against the school district alleging gross negligence. 

Taylor's grandfather currently has custody of her son, prosecutors said.