A girl with special needs who was 6 years old and riding a school bus in New Jersey died after something happened on the bus, officials said. The school bus monitor is now facing charges.
The child, who uses a wheelchair, was on a school bus Monday morning going to a local school in Franklin Township for an extended school year program when she stopped moving.
During the ride, “a series of bumps in the road caused the 6-year-old to slump in her wheelchair seat making the 4-point harness which secured her to the chair to become tight around her neck, ultimately blocking her airway,” the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on Thursday.
The school bus monitor who tied the child to the chair was sitting near the front of the bus at the time and “was using a cell phone while wearing earbud headphones in both ears,” the office said.
The office said, “The investigation showed that this was against policies and procedures.”
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Prosecutors say that police went to a school in Franklin Township just after 9 a.m. and gave CPR to a child who was not breathing or moving. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where her death was confirmed.
After an investigation, Amanda Davila, 27, of New Brunswick, who was the school bus monitor, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The prosecutor’s office said that she was being held in the Somerset County Jail until a detention hearing, which could happen on Tuesday. It’s not clear if she has a lawyer who can talk to her. ABC News couldn’t get in touch with Davila to get her opinion.
Chief of Police for the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, Francisco Roman, told ABC News that they are not giving out the child’s name because that is what her family wants. He said that a medical report is still coming.
In an interview with the New York ABC station WABC, her parents said that their daughter had been identified with Emanuel syndrome, a rare chromosome disorder.
Her mother, Najmah Nash, told the station, “She didn’t deserve to be taken away from us in a way that had nothing to do with her condition.”
Her father told WABC that the child didn’t talk.
Wali Williams, the girl’s father, told the station, “My daughter can’t talk, and she’s helpless.” “She can’t even take the seat belt off on her own, let alone the harness. Her arms are the only thing she can move.”
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The bus watcher worked for Montauk Transit, which had its main office in Somerset, New Jersey. John Mensch, the head of the bus company, said in a statement that they are “all devastated by the loss” of the child.
“We all extend our deepest condolences to the family and are grieving as a company,” Mensch said. “All of our employees know that the safety of children we transport is our top priority, which is why we are fully engaged in the law enforcement investigation and support any punishment that the justice system determines appropriate for the bus monitor who has been arrested.”
Superintendent of Franklin Township Public Schools John Ravally wrote a letter to the school community on Thursday about the death of the child.
“We will keep this student’s family and friends in our thoughts and prayers,” Ravally said.
The event is still being looked into.
Stay tuned to our website Usacharged.com for further updates.
