MAMARONECK, NY — The driver of a mini school bus that hit and killed a kindergartener and his mother While walking to school in suburban New York, they will not face criminal charges but have been cited for failing to yield to pedestrians and for using their cell phones minutes before the crash, police said Friday.
The 68-year-old driver is keeping his job and could be back behind the wheel when the school year starts next week, police in the Westchester County village of Mamaroneck said. according to the Journal News.
The crash happened around 8:30 a.m. June 20 as Molly Murphy Donovan, 43, and her 6-year-old son, Michael Donovan Volpe, were walking to school.
The minivan driven by the 68-year-old hit the mother and child when they were about half a block from Mamaroneck Avenue Elementary School. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene and the mother died of her injuries in hospital.
A report released Friday by the Westchester County Police Department found the driver may have been distracted by an ambulance responding to an unrelated call with its lights and sirens on.
The driver had been using his cell phone less than two minutes before the crash but was not on his phone when he struck the mother and child, police said.
A notice of comment was sent to school bus company Royal Coach Lines.