A former New Jersey school bus aide has been sentenced for the death of a 6-year-old girl with special needs who suffocated on a bus ride to school in 2023.
Amanda Davila was found guilty of child endangerment earlier this year in connection to the death of Fajr Williams.
As a bus monitor, Davila was tasked with looking after Williams and other special needs children during rides to and from school in Franklin Township, New Jersey. On July 17, 2023, on the way to a summer program, Williams was strangled by a four-point harness that secured her wheelchair to the bus.
Authorities say Williams hadn’t been strapped in properly beforehand and a series of bumps in the road caused her to slump in her seat, leaving the harness to tighten around her neck when she slipped.
Surveillance video showed Williams struggling to breathe as Davila was on her phone wearing her earbuds during the entire 30-minute ride to school, sitting only a few seats in front of Williams.
“She’s on that bus for a reason and she could have picked her head up and looked around. Had she done so, this tragedy could have been avoided,” said Judge Peter Tobin, according to WNBC.
Williams was unresponsive by the time the bus arrived at the school and was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Davila was convicted in January and was recently sentenced to three years in prison.
Surveillance footage from the bus shows Davila securing the wheelchair to the floor of the bus after Williams’ 14-year-old sister escorted the child onto the bus.
Davila’s attorney argued that the teen helped buckle her sister in, albeit improperly, which he called an oversight that contributed to the 6-year-old’s death.
When asked about the harness setup on the bus, Davila initially stated that one of the four hooks didn’t work and there was no shoulder strap for the wheelchair. She backpedaled later and said the strap never fit and that she wasn’t properly trained on how to secure the wheelchair and strap it. Prosecutors, however, presented evidence of monthly training sessions.
Davila was also questioned about why she sat in front of all the children on the bus that day, rather than behind them. She said she didn’t know.
“I made a mistake but you guys are trying to put me away for 10 to 20 years, on a mistake,” Davila said during her testimony.
“She had one job. She didn’t do it and because she didn’t do it Fajr Williams is dead,” said Assistant Somerset County Prosecutor Michael McLaughlin.
Davila’s attorney, who claimed that his client shared responsibility with Williams’ parents and sister, argued that Davila should only get probation, noting she has a 4-year-old child with severe autism. Once the sentence was decided, he said he would fight to get her released early and registered into an intense supervision program.
“She’s 28, never had a speeding ticket. However, I do understand the other side and think the judge was extremely fair,” said attorney Michael Policastro, who said he would not appeal the decision.
“I’m sorry. My heart goes out to the mother and the family,” Davila said before leaving the courtroom in handcuffs.
