Amanda Davila, a 27-year-old school bus monitor, sat in the front of her bus Monday morning, focused on her cellphone and wearing her earbuds. A few rows back was one of the kids she had to keep an eye on: a handicapped 6-year-old girl in a wheelchair who couldn’t talk, on her way to a summer education program in New Jersey.
The bus driver hit a bumpy road and the girl, Fajr Williams, slid in her seat. And, unbeknownst to Ms. Davila, the belt used to secure the child in her seat came tight against her throat, eventually causing her to suffocate, authorities said.
Ms. Davila was arrested on Wednesday. On Thursday, Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald announced she had been charged with second-degree manslaughter and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors said Ms Davila was “using a mobile phone while wearing earplugs in both ears”.
Days later, the little girl’s mother was still trying to come to terms with her death.
“I still feel like it’s unreal,” said 38-year-old Najmah Nash. “Sometimes I feel like I’m fine and functioning, and other times I feel like I can barely hold on.”
Ms. Nash’s daughter, Fajr, was on her way to school in Franklin Township, about 45 minutes from New York City, officials said. Mrs. Davila secured her wheelchair to the back of the bus and then sat in the front. On a rough stretch of road, the girl began to struggle.
Shortly after 9 a.m., Ms. Nash said, she received a call “saying my baby had stopped responding” and that emergency responders were performing CPR on Fajr at Claremont Elementary School, about 15 minutes away from the family’s home.
The girl was then rushed to a hospital’s intensive care unit, where she was pronounced dead.
Ms Nash said Fajr had Emanuel syndrome, a chromosomal disorder that disrupts development. She was nonverbal and unable to walk. Babies with the disease don’t gain weight or grow at the expected rate, and many with the syndrome have “severe to profound” intellectual disabilities, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Although Fajr couldn’t speak, she was able to “make baby choruses and happy noises,” Ms Nash said. She was full of life and joy.
“Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with this student’s family and friends,” said Dr. John Ravally, the superintendent of the Franklin Township Public Schools, in a letter sent Thursday to the school community notifying them of the death and charges.
“It is clear that the community is saddened by this recent tragedy,” Vanessa Miranda, a spokeswoman for the Franklin Township Board of Education, said in an email.
Officials said Ms Davila violated “policies and procedures” as she used her phone with her earbuds in both ears. She is incarcerated at the Somerset County Jail awaiting a detention hearing.
Montauk Transit, which has a transportation contract with the Franklin Township Board of Education, sent inquiries to Orange County Transit, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ms Nash, who works in the quality assurance department of Motivcare, a company that brokers non-emergency medical transport, said she was “devastated” when she learned the bus monitor was on her phone and had her earplugs in.
“It was very hurtful,” Mrs. Nash said. “It was very disappointing.”
She wants to know the relationship between chaperones and children, and the protocol for making sure a wheelchair is safe before the bus leaves.
Ms. Nash urged the Board of Education to thoroughly vet the transportation companies they contract with “to make sure they start taking care of our kids.”
“There’s only so much parents can do,” she said.
Kirsten Noyes contributed research.
