A New Jersey bus monitor was charged with manslaughter after a 6-year-old girl with special needs died after the bus ride to school on Monday.
Somerset County Prosecutor John P. McDonald’s office said in a press release that at about 9 a.m. on Monday, the Franklin Township Police Department responded to reports of an unresponsive juvenile.
As soon as officers arrived, they began administering CPR to the 6-year-old child until emergency crews arrived and transported her to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Detectives from the department as well as with the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Major Crimes Unit conducted an investigation which found the 6-year-old girl with special needs attended an extended school year program at a school in the township.
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The girl used a wheelchair and was taken to the school from her home on July 17, on a bus.
Once on the bus, the bus monitor, 27-year-old Amanda Davila, secured the child and her wheelchair in the back of the bus.
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The prosecutor’s office said there was a series of bumps in the road during the ride that caused the 6-year-old to slump over in her chair, causing the 4-point harness securing her to the chair to tighten around her neck and block her airway.
Davila was allegedly seated forward in the front of the bus while wearing earbuds in both ears and using a mobile phone, which was in violation of policies and procedures, investigators learned.
Davila was arrested on Wednesday because of the investigation, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
She was charged with second-degree manslaughter and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, then booked into the Somerset County Jail, pending a detention hearing.
Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 908-231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police at 732-873-5533.
Information can also be provided through the county Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477).
