School bus driver charged after teen is run over and killed, Michigan officials say

A 65-year-old woman has been arrested after a 13-year-old boy was struck and killed after getting off her school bus, Michigan officials say.

Zyair Harris, a student in the Detroit Public School system, was getting off the bus around 4:40 p.m. on April 6 when he was struck by a passing vehicle, according to Wayne County prosecutors. Zyair was hospitalized, and he died on Sunday, April 10, officials said.

Prosecutors allege that the bus driver,Debra White, failed to “activate the bus’s stop lights and stop sign for (Zyair) to safely cross the street.”

White is a driver for the ABC Bus Company, which MLive.com reported is a bus service provided for Detroit Public Schools.

She faces one charge of second-degree child abuse and one count of failure to stop at a scene resulting in death, the prosecutor’s office said. The charges were issued before Zyair died and will be reviewed again.

White was jailed on a $50,000 bond and is due in court on Tuesday, April 19.

Lorise Yarbrough, Zyair’s aunt, believes the boy’s death was preventable.

“He is an autistic kid, but he is very smart, but anyone who has any sort of compassion for a child, you know you’re supposed to guide them across the street, he never got the chance,” Yarbrough told WJBK. “She let him off the bus, and as soon as he cross the street, the car hit him.”

This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 1:42 PM with the headline "School bus driver charged after teen is run over and killed, Michigan officials say."