Teacher charged for gun in class

A Santa Ana teacher and Costa Mesa resident accused of keeping a gun and bullets in her third-grade classroom was charged Tuesday and will be arraigned today, prosecutors stated.

Jayne Suzanne DeArmond, 51, had the gun mixed among school supplies in a plastic drawer at Diamond Elementary School, prosecutors stated. Her students found the gun while looking for a staple remover, and the principal was told later, prosecutors said.

DeArmond is scheduled to be arraigned 9 a.m. at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana. She is charged with one felony count of possession of a firearm on school grounds and one felony count of child endangerment by a caretaker, officials said. She faces up to six years and four months in prison if convicted.

Efforts to reach DeArmond were unsuccessful.

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at daniel.tedford@latimes.com.