Driver of van that hit, killed little girl at pumpkin farm pleads guilty

LAKE HOPATCONG, N.J. (WABC) -- The shuttle bus driver accused of hitting and killing a toddler at a popular tourist farm last year pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of careless driving.

Neil McWilliams, 53, was behind the wheel of the van that hit 2-year-old Elizabeth Fuehring in October.

Police said McWilliams' left his vehicle idling and his foot slipped off the brake, hitting the little girl and trapping her between two buses. He was fined a total of $239.

The October 2014 accident occurred at Alstede Farms in Chester. Investigators concluded that two vans were shuttling passengers from a parking lot at the festival to a nearby train station when one of the vans rolled into the other.

The girl, her mother and another woman were caught between the vehicles. The women were injured.

McWilliams' lawyer says his client's van was idling but wasn't in the park position. His foot came off the brake and accidentally hit the accelerator.

"She was a very joyous kid, you know. She was happy, she was raised in a happy environment," her father, Kenny Fuehring said in October.

The farm released a statement at the time saying, "Our sincere prayers and heartfelt thoughts are extended to everyone involved."

Police try to handle traffic and parking at the popular farm, but the mayor says the town can do only so much because it is private property. "The farm has spent a lot of money on a parking and traffic study to mitigate it and it simply didn't work. And it's very frustrating for me as mayor not to be able to help in that regard," Town of Chester Mayor Bill Cogger said at the time.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)