A 27-year-old school bus monitor was arrested Wednesday after a disabled 6-year-old girl died from suffocation from a strap that was designed to secure her to her seat.
Police documents show Amanda Davila of New Jersey was on her cellphone and wearing earbuds at the time of the incident. The girl, Fajr Williams, was on her way to a summertime education program when the bus hit a bumpy road. Unbeknownst to Davila, the girl, who could not speak, was choking after the strap ended up tight against her throat. She ended up suffocating to death, police say.
Davila has since been charged with second-degree manslaughter and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Somerset County prosecutor John P. McDonald, who said that the suspect was “utilizing a cellular telephone while wearing earbud headphone devices in both ears.”
Shortly after Williams’ death, her mother Najmah Nash, 38, said it still hasn’t hit her that her daughter is gone.
“I still feel like it’s unreal,” Nash told The New York Times. “Sometimes I feel that I’m OK and functioning, and then other times I just feel like I can barely hold on.”
According to officials, her daughter was on her way to Franklin Township, about 45 minutes from New York City when Davila secured her wheelchair toward the back of the bus and then sat in a seat near the front. While riding on a bumpy road, Williams began to suffocate.
Around 9 AM, Nash said she received a call “stating that my baby was unresponsive.” Emergency responders performed CPR 15 minutes away from the family’s home and then was rushed to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Officials say Davila violated “policies and procedures” by using her phone and wearing earbuds when she was supposed to be monitoring the children on the bus. She is currently being detained at Somerset County Jail awaiting a detention hearing.
“It was very hurtful,” Nash said. “It was very distasteful.”
Meanwhile, Dr. John Ravally, the superintendent of the Franklin Township Public Schools, released a statement sending “thoughts and prayers” and added that the school will “continue to be with this student’s family and friends.”
Vanessa Miranda, a spokeswoman for the Franklin Township Board of Education, also wrote in an email sent to The New York Times that “Obviously the community is saddened by this recent tragedy.”
Following her daughter’s death, Nash is pleading with the Board of Education to properly vet transportation companies they contract “to ensure that they’re going to take care of our children.”
“There’s only so much that parents can do,” she concluded.
