Houston, TX : 17-year-old girl died and two others injured in school bus crash on Monday November 16 2015
The mother of a 17-year-old girl who died in a school bus crash that killed another student and severely injured two others has filed a lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed against the Houston Independent School District and International Truck and Engine Corp., the bus manufacturer.
Four students were on board a bus on Sept. 15 when it was hit by a car.
According to Houston police, an HISD teacher was driving a gold Buick LeSabre in the 7200 block of the South Loop shortly after 7 a.m. when she crashed into the bus. The teacher, 29-year-old Nikita Allen, said she believed that another vehicle was moving into her lane and she swerved to try to avoid it, striking the bus. A witness said the bus flew at least 5 feet into the air, then nose-dived to the ground and flipped.
A twin brother and sister, Brandon and Lakeshia Williams, and the bus driver, Luisa Pacheco, survived the crash.
Mariya Johnson, 17, died at the scene.
Janecia Chatman, 14, was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she died a short time later.
The students were heading to Furr High School at the time of the crash. Furr is also home to REACH Charter High School.
Chatman was a freshman at Furr. Johnson attended REACH with the Williams twins.
Johnson's mother, Melody Johnson, said HISD did not contact the family, and she learned of her daughter's death through an automated voicemail from the school district.
The deaths left many unanswered questions and brought the issue of safety belts on school buses to the forefront.
Source:
Mother of girl, 17, killed in HISD school bus crash files $1M lawsuit