Mother of 6-year-old girl who died on New Jersey school bus pushing for new law establishing strict safety guidelines
By CHRISTINE SLOAN
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SOMERSET, New Jersey (WCBS) — A mother is turning her tragedy into a call for action after her daughter, a student with special needs, died on a school bus in New Jersey.
The monitor on the bus has been charged in connection with her death.
Now, the little girl’s mother is pushing for a new law in her daughter’s name.
More than a month after her daughter’s death, Najmah Nash finds comfort in pictures of her little girl, 6-year-old Fajr Williams.
Nash is determined to bring about change, she says, so that no other parent goes through the pain she’s endured.
“I am never going to stop. It’s not a moment in the day that I don’t think about my baby Fajr,” she said.
Fajr died on a school bus after the safety harness on her wheelchair prevented her from breathing.
Prosecutors say Amanda Davila, the monitor on Fajr’s bus, sat in the front with a cellphone in hand, wearing ear buds, never looking back for almost 14 minutes as the bus went over bumps.
Nash says she’s gathered more than 19,000 signatures to craft a new law in her daughter’s name that would establish strict school bus safety guidelines.
“The bus aides should only be seated where they can actually monitor the children and see the children,” Nash said.
Davila’s attorney has said she kept ear buds in for calls and wasn’t allowed to touch harnesses.
Nash, along with the New Jersey Family Support Planning Council, called for other changes in a letter to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, asking bus staff be trained in CPR and emergencies and be competent in the use of wheelchair lifts and tie-downs. They also want bus companies to keep lines of communication open and have live cameras on board.
“I want them to take a look at their current policies and see how we can implement Fajr’s Law because it’s something that’s lacking and that we’re missing, and this is why these tragedies are not just happening here in New Jersey but all over,” Nash said.
Meanwhile, the bus monitor will be back in court Sept. 15. We reached out to her attorney; he was unavailable for comment.
The bus monitor faces manslaughter and child endangerment charges and is out on bail.
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