Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503280078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
While two of her siblings watched, Shayla Worley, a chubby, bright-eyed Vinton kindergartner, ran back to the school bus she had just left and slipped under its wheels as it pulled away.
As they stood on the porch of their Vale Avenue home Monday afternoon recounting what they saw, Shayla's sister and brother, Paris, 8, and Chance, 7, didn't know she was dead. Despite attempts to revive her, Shayla, 5, died a short time after the accident at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
Paris and Chance said they had just come from Roland E. Cook Elementary School with Shayla aboard bus 61. All three got off in front of their house, but, for some reason, Shayla went back to the bus.
Paris said her sister's book bag had gotten caught in the door, and that's why she went back. Other children who were on the bus said she may have gotten her sleeve caught. Whatever happened, she fell into the path of the rear wheels.
``We thought we'd hit a car,'' said Robert Elmore, 10, who was on the bus. The bus driver, Josiah ``Jay'' Edwards, pulled the bus over to find Shayla lying in the road.
Paris said she ran inside to tell her mother, Patricia Worley, who called 911.
Vinton Police Chief Rick Foutz said one thing is clear: Shayla walked several feet from the bus before running back toward it. Foutz said a full account would not be available until police had talked to every witness. He wouldn't comment on whether Edwards would be charged until all the facts are in.
Last Christmas, Foutz went to 467 Vale Ave. dressed as Santa Claus to deliver toys to Shayla and her five brothers and sisters. A photograph accompanying a Roanoke Times & World-News story showed Shayla reaching up to hug Foutz.
Two hours after the accident, red-eyed teachers in the school office remembered Shayla as always smiling, adorable, ``an angel.''
Principal Deedie Kagey, too distraught to discuss the accident, sent guidance counselor Kathy Nester to speak on her behalf.
Nester recalled how Shayla had approached her during lunch one day, propped her chin delicately on her hands, and sang ``Happy Birthday'' to her. That's the way they do it in restaurants, Shayla explained.
Nester said the Roanoke County school system's crisis team will be at Roland E. Cook today helping the students cope with Shayla's death. ``We're going to try to make as normal a day as possible for them,'' she said.
The fact that Shayla was killed by a school bus raises special concerns. Nester said the students also will receive more bus safety training. She said they need to believe they can do something to keep this from happening to them.
The teachers also were concerned about the bus driver, Jay Edwards. The kids call him ``Mr. Jay.''
``He's in his 50s, but he acts like he's in his 20s,'' Robert Elmore said.
Edwards, the minister of New Testament Baptist Church in Vinton, has been doubling as a bus driver for four years.
Paula Hickson, who lives two doors down from the Worleys and is scheduled to be married by Edwards in two months, saw her pastor just after the accident.
``He was really, really scared,'' she said.
The last time a Roanoke Valley child was killed by a school bus was 1987, when Michael Mauck, 5, was struck by one in Southeast Roanoke. His death prompted the school system to tighten bus-riding regulations and add safety arms to keep children clear of the bus as they pass in front of it.
As Edwards left the Vinton police station Monday, Elmore and another boy who was on the bus ran to him and asked if he would still be their bus driver.
Edwards smiled at them, patted them on the head, and said he didn't know.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB