Family of Texas child killed by school bus files lawsuit

Dallas — family with 6 year old Died after being hit by a school bus Parker County has filed wrongful death lawsuits against school districts, bus distributors and manufacturers.

In late April, Tori Thayer was at work when she got a call about her daughter, Emory.

“His voice was frantic and he said, ‘Tori, I have to go home, Emmy got hit by a bus,'” Thayer said.

According to reports from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Thayer was run over by a bus that had just gotten off right in front of his home.

Her two brothers witnessed the incident. According to Richardson Koudelka, LLP’s lawsuit, she was run over by both her right front and right rear wheels and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

“The doctor came and looked at me and said, ‘Sorry, she, she didn’t get better.'” There was no response at the time. I just stood there and looked at him,” Thayer said. “I sat there for half an hour, just staring.”

Her husband, Sean Thayer, was in Kansas on business and was driving back when she died.

“I didn’t. I couldn’t even talk to her,” Sean said.

Tori says she didn’t leave her bedroom for a week with a mixture of denial and sadness.

“She was all girly and all tomboy. She played tackle football with Tootoo and wears a huge number of bracelets,” she said.

The bus driver was not arrested. The family lawsuit alleges that the district failed to keep its buses safe and failed to hire and train drivers. Rush Truck Centers of Texas accused of manufacturing and selling buses known to be unsafe due to lack of safety equipment.

The 2021 Blue Bird bus lacked cameras, sensors and front cross arms. All were options available and used for years.

“I want change, but unfortunately, most of the time, these companies don’t listen until they start impacting their bottom line,” said Sean Sayre.

“Every vehicle on the road today has very basic safety features that can prevent this,” says attorney Kevin Koudelka. “They shouldn’t be optional. They should be standard equipment like seat belts.”

Since the fatal accident, Block ISD has added a cross arm to the bus.

“A few bucks to mass produce a bus is a problem, but a few bucks could have saved Emory’s life,” said attorney Nick Rodriguez.

“They really needed this to spend money,” said Sean Thayer.

Now, the Sayles no longer take their children on the bus, even for excursions. They want accountability, change, and that her April 25th never happens.

“We don’t know how many school buses we see in a day until something like this happens. They seem to haunt us,” Tori Thayer said. could have been incredibly different. Our lives could still have been fine, but now they aren’t.”