06-03-2006, 07:47 AM
http://news.ibn.net/newsframe.asp?url=http...1;XPC;aid=59686
8-Year-Old Remembered After Fatal Bus Accident
Family and friends said their goodbyes Wednesday at a private burial service in Jamaica, Queens, for 8-year-old Amber Sadiq, killed earlier this week when she was crushed by a runaway school bus.
Sadiq was walking home from P.S. 161 in Crown Heights on Monday when she was run over by the bus. <b>A dual faith service was held for her because mother is a Roman Catholic and her father is Muslim.</b>
The little girl’s casket and her immediate family were shielded from the media, but it was hard for many of the people who attended Sadiq's burial service to conceal their grief.
“It’s horrible. She was the flower girl at my wedding,” said a family member.
“It's a real difficult time right now for everyone who is involved in this,” said a family friend.
Police say an 8-year-old boy made his way onto the parked bus and released the emergency brake. The vehicle started rolling and picked up speed before crashing into Sadiq, who was crossing the street.
School officials say the boy, whose name has not been released because he is a minor, was suspended last week for trying to sneak onto another bus. They also say he missed 40 days of school this year and was late 14 other times.
The child’s parents have split up, and he's being raised by his father and other relatives.
Some mourners tell NY1 the incident was just a tragedy and that the boy should not be punished.
"I mean, he's only 8-years-old, and what can you say about that?" said one mourner. "I've never had to be in a situation like this. No one's ever been in a situation like this, where you have to look at a child and determine whether he's responsible for a certain type of action. I mean, I really don't know what to say."
“He's an innocent child who happened to make some wrong judgments, the wrong moves. But this was an accident, if you ask me,” said Imam Ahmed Afzali of the Islamic Burial Funeral Service.
It's still unclear whether the city will pursue criminal charges against the boy, but a judge in Brooklyn Family Court has ordered that he have a psychiatric evaluation.
“They are going to evaluate, first his physical state after everything he's been through, his emotional state, his mental state just so the judge has a real idea of she's dealing with a young 8-year-old boy," said Samuel Karliner, the attorney for the boy’s family's. "She wants to know who he is."
The boy is now in the care of the Administration for Children's Services, and he is due back in court on Friday.
His lawyer argues the bus company and driver should be held responsible for the little girl's death.
"The bus driver shouldn't have let this bus allowed to be boarded by people from the street,” said the boy’s attorney Richard A. Miller. “He apparently took a sandwich and went a block or two away and left it unguarded."
Police say the bus was properly parked and they don't expect the bus company to face charges.