| For Immediate Release Case # TBA
April 29, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER CHARGED WITH ENDANGERING STUDENTS BY BRINGING GUN TO SCHOOL
SANTA ANA – A Santa Ana school teacher was charged today with keeping a gun in her elementary school classroom within reach of young students. Jayne Suzanne DeArmond, 51, Costa Mesa, is charged with one felony count of possession of a firearm on school grounds and one felony count of child endangerment by a caretaker. She faces a maximum sentence of six years and four months in state prison if convicted. DeArmond is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow, Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
On April 2, 2008, DeArmond is accused of keeping a gun in a third-grade classroom at Diamond Elementary School in Santa Ana, where she worked as a teacher. She is accused of storing the gun and bullets in a plastic supply drawer with other classroom supplies within reach of her young students. Several elementary school students discovered the gun while looking in the drawer for a staple remover. One of the students told a computer lab instructional assistant about the gun, and the lab assistant reported it to the school principal. The principal contacted the police.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Randy Pawloski is prosecuting this case.
###