NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — A judge has ruled that a former assistant principal can be redisposed as part of the $40 million civil suit surrounding the 2023 Richneck Elementary School shooting in which first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner was shot by a 6-year-old student.

Judge Mathew Hoffman ruled that Zwerner’s attorneys can go back and ask questions of former Richneck Elementary assistant principal Dr. Ebony Parker that she had previously pleaded the Fifth Amendment when asked as part of Zwerner’s civil suit against the Newport News School Board, Parker and former Newport News Public Schools Superintendent Dr. George Parker III.

Court documents showed that there were 43 questions in total, questions having to do with Parker’s training, the authority she had in student discipline and her personal experiences as it relates to the Jan. 6, 2023 shooting of Zwerner.

Zwerner’s legal team filed a motion saying the former assistant principal was not answering enough of their questions in deposition.

“We need answers, and we need answers as efficiently and as effectively as we can get them,” said Zwerner attorney Kevin Biniazan.

Of course, many of those questions could be answered in Parker’s criminal trial, scheduled for February. Parker, who was not in court Thursday, resigned following the shooting and has been charged in that case with eight counts of felony child abuse and neglect.

Zwerner was also not in the courtroom Thursday. However, her attorneys confirm the judge’s ruling was a partial victory for her legal team.

As for the status of the trial in this civil case, WAVY has learned it is not going to happen until after Parker’s criminal trial. A trial date in the civil case has been set for next October.

The School Board attorneys and attorneys for Parker declined comment.

Zwerner’s legal team has expressed frustration over how long the court process is taking, but they said they are going to continue to pursue it with the same vigor.

“Certainly, they’re happy to see us progressing,” said Zwerner attorney Diane Toscano. “You know, it was a setback just a month or two ago when the case got continued. So that’s been a point of frustration. But I’ll tell you, we’re going to keep fighting, and we’re going to fight this all the way to the end. So, delay or not, that’s just making us want to fight this even more.”