Child Killed in Bus Stop Car Crash, Driver Faces Charges

(ProsperNews.net) – A woman was charged with vehicular homicide when a child died while attempting to board a school bus in Henry County, Georgia. The eight-year-old girl died when the driver of a Ford Fusion hit her near a school bus stop, which authorities say was flashing a red light and had stop signs at both the front and rear ends.

Police arrested 25-year-old Kaylee Andre immediately after the incident and charged her with first-degree vehicular homicide, failure to stop for a school bus loading and unloading, and failure to exercise due care.

Andre’s windshield was iced over, and authorities say she failed to remove the ice, which obstructed her view, and therefore she failed to exercise due care and attention.

The young girl, Adalynn Pierce, was a pupil at Rock Spring Elementary School, and her heartbroken mother, Ashley, said the child’s organs would be donated to help others. “Her heart feels for the whole world. If she knows that there is a need out there, it makes her soul so happy to pray for them,” Ashley said.

The child’s mother added that she forgives Kaylee Andre, who phoned 911 after the accident and stayed with the child until help arrived. She also expressed remorse and wept, telling Ashley how sorry she was.

Georgia State Patrol said emergency personnel applied life-saving measures to Adalynn at the scene, and she was transported to Egelston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, where she later died.

According to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) data, 27 people died in similar circumstances across the US in the 2022-2023 school year. These included motorists hitting children near school buses or children walking to or from the bus.

Between 2012 and 2021, 206 schoolchildren died in incidents involving school buses across the US. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said these included the deaths of 80 occupants of vehicles, 78 pedestrians, and five cyclists. Data also finds that more children are killed or injured on school buses than when navigating near them.