No criminal charges for driver in school bus crash that killed 6-year-old, mother

MAMARONECK, N.Y. (AP) — The driver of a mini-school bus that struck and killed a kindergartner and his mother as they were walking to school in suburban New York will not face criminal charges but has been ticketed for failing to yield to pedestrians and for using his cellphone 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 at 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 minibus 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 at a hospital.

A report released Friday by the Westchester County Police Department found that the driver might have been distracted by an ambulance that was responding to an unrelated call with its lights and sirens on.

The driver had used his cellphone less than two minutes before the crash but was not on his phone when he hit the mother and child, police said.

A message seeking comment was sent to the school bus company, Royal Coach Lines.