using marijuana on a background-check form when she bought the firearm used in the shooting.

Throughout those legal proceedings, details of J.T.'s troubled past poured out in court.

On two separate occasions when he was just five years old, the boy had secretly stolen his mom's keys and taken her car out by himself - once crashing it, according to prosecutors.

His parents' rap sheets weren't exactly clean either.

4 The 6-year-old opened fire inside a classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, a small city about 70 miles southwest of Richmond, in 2023. Daily Press (Newport News, Va/Daily Press via ZUMA Press Wire / Shutterstock

Just one month before J.T. brought the handgun to school, Taylor, now 29, had fired it during an argument with his father, Malik Ellison, prosecutors claimed. Nobody was hurt during that incident.

Taylor also filed a restraining order and a slew of police reports over the years against Ellison, whom she and at least one other woman accused of being physically abusive, according to police records obtained by WAVY News.

Though Taylor was released from prison in February, J.T. currently remains in the care of his great-grandfather - who has blamed social services for failing the youngster long before the gunfire.

 He was a victim before that date,  Calvin Taylor told the outlet in January 2024.

4  He was a victim before that date,  J.T.'s great-grandfather and guardian, Calvin Taylor, said during a January 2024 interview. WAVY

 Contrary to popular belief, I know they said that my granddaughter neglected him and placed him in precarious situations, but there were instances where she tried to get help. I drove her to certain places. My other daughters drove her to places to acquire help, even the safety plan that they put in place after the car incident. There was no follow-up,  he continued.

As of that interview, J.T. was earning good grades at his new school and taking accountability for leaving his teacher with gunshots through her hand and chest, Calvin Taylor said.

 I'm grateful that I have an opportunity to spend time with him daily and that I have an opportunity to watch him grow up as a young man without a lot of baggage. I'm also grateful that he understands that it was an egregious mistake and that he's not going to be defined by that mistake,  he said.