School bus driver charged in boy's death

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The driver of the school bus that struck and killed a 5-year-old boy Tuesday afternoon has been charged with homicide by vehicle 2nd degree, said Atlanta Police Wednesday.

The bus driver, Sharon Denise Dale, 39, was also charged with failure to use due regard and school bus driver safety procedure, according to a release sent by APD spokesman Otis Redmond.

Everette Johnson, a kindergarten student, had just gotten off of the bus after school ended Tuesday at nearby Usher Elementary. He was one of six students to get off at the bus stop, located near the intersection of Vanderbilt Court and Hobart Drive, just north of I-20.

Everette was walking in front of the bus when the driver began to pull forward, according to Officer James Polite with Atlanta police.

"The right front tire rolled over the child," Polite said in a statement. "Everette tumbled underneath the bus and came to rest underneath the right rear tire."

Everette was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, where he later died from his injuries.

School officials aren't sure why Dale believed the path was clear for the bus to continue its route.

"Somehow the driver lost track of this child," said Keith Bromery, spokesman for Atlanta Public Schools.

Others outside quickly alerted the driver that the bus had hit the child, Bromery said. Several children were still on the bus at the time of the incident.

"She's very distraught," Bromery said Tuesday evening.

Bromery said Dale has been a driver for the school system for seven years, and has a clean record during those years.

Dale is on administrative leave pending the outcome of investigations by police and the school system's transportation department, Bromery said.

Lakeithia Mays, 9, had also gotten off the bus at the same stop Tuesday afternoon and saw the accident.

She said Everette dropped his book bag and notebook after he got off the bus, and when he bent over to pick them up, he was hit by the bus.

"The bus tire got his leg, and his arm had tire marks on it," Lakeithia said. "The people on the bus, they were yelling, ‘is he dead, is he dead?' "

She said she had known Everette for about a year, and described her friend as a funny student who rode the bus with a brother and a sister.

"I can't believe it was him," she said. "He's dead."

Staff writer Mike Morris and photographer John Spink contributed to this article.