SOMERVILLE, N.J. — A 27-year-old school bus aide was charged in the death of a 6-year-old girl with special needs after she was strangled by the seatbelt of her wheelchair while riding the bus in New Jersey.
The aide, Amanda Davila, was using her cellphone and wearing earbuds during the incident, which was a violation of policies and procedures, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. The bus was taking the student to a summer school program.
“It’s a tragic event,” Somerset County chief of detectives Francisco Roman told USA TODAY.
Davila was arrested July 19 and the prosecutor’s office is investigating the child’s death in Franklin Township, he said.
What happened on the New Jersey school bus?
Police responded to a school Monday morning after receiving reports of an “unresponsive” child, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office. Responding officers administered CPR to the student, but she later died at a hospital’s intensive care unit.
While riding the bus, the student was secured in her wheelchair at the back of the bus. The bus hit a “series of bumps in the road” causing the girl to slump in her seat, according to the prosecutor’s office. A harness became tight around her neck and blocked her airway.
Davila was using her phone with earbuds toward the front of the bus, prosecutors said.
Davila was charged with second-degree manslaughter and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. She is being held in the Somerset County Jail pending a detention hearing.
6-year-old had special needs
The child was born with a rare chromosome disorder known as Emanuel syndrome, which made her unable to speak or walk, WNBC in New York reported.
“She was the sweetest kid you’ll ever meet. She had the sweetest little laugh, little dimples and she just endured so much in her six years,” Namjah Nash Williams, the girl’s mother, told the TV station. “To be taken away from us in such a way, that had nothing to do with her condition.”
