Jury deliberates case of bus aide in the death of 6-year-old with special needs in a wheel chair
SOMERVILLE, New Jersey (WABC) -- A jury is deliberating in the trial of a school bus aide charged in connection with the death of a disabled child.
27-year-old bus monitor Amanda Davila took the stand in her own defense on Thursday.
Prosecutors say Davila was texting and on social media instead of checking on 6-year-old Farj Williams.
Williams slipped down in her wheelchair and the strap securing the chair to the school bus tightened around her neck, suffocating her.
Davila told jurors she should've checked on Williams and didn't follow training procedures but doesn't deserve the punishment she may face.
"I made a mistake. You guys are trying to put me in jail for 10-20 years on a mistake. I'm partially to blame but there's other people to blame too, not just me," Davila said.
Davila and her attorney Michael Policastro maintain that 6-year-old non-verbal and disabled Williams died because she was incorrectly strapped into her wheelchair by her sister or her mother as she slumped in her chair.
The bus' shoulder harness cut off her airway.
"Did you notice that she wasn't harnessed in correctly?" Policastro said.
"I didn't notice until we were at school," Davila said.
Prosecutors say there is no proof the family was at fault.
"In the video you can tell she was sliding down so it wasn't buckled in," Davila said.
"But you said you didn't look at her when you got on the bus?" Michael McLauglin, assistant prosecutor said.
"No I didn't," Davila said.
The jury was shown the entire bus ride to Claremont Elementary School which showed Davila constantly on her phone, ear buds in both ears, seated in front of Williams not checking on her at all during the ride.
Prosecutors say her one job that day was looking after Williams' wellbeing and she didn't do it.
"This is the bodycam. That's what she would have seen if she was sitting where she was supposed to," Prosecutors said.
A nurse at Claremont performed CPR on the child, but she later died at the hospital.
Davila is charged with aggravated manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child for the incident on a school bus in 2023.
Williams' mother said she will be waiting at the courthouse as the jury is deliberating.
"It is heartbreaking and it's disturbing to keep reliving it and to have to physically watch my daughter suffer," Williams' mother said.
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