CONROE, Texas – A 6-year-old girl is dead after she was run over by a school bus Tuesday morning in Conroe, police told KPRC 2.
Conroe police said it happened in the 2200 block of 1st Street around 7:30 a.m.
The girl, who family members identified as Sophia Isabella Irehata, was running late for the bus after the other kids had already loaded up. Police said the bus driver didn’t see Sophia run in front of the bus and started driving off when the bus ran her.
“The bus was late is what the dad told me. The bus was late and he said, ‘You know what, I’m going to take you to school instead.' So he had the baby with him, the 1-year-old and took her in the house and Sophia was out here and her older brother went in the truck and in a blink of an eye ...,” said Sophia’s step-grandmother, Candelaria Zabala.
According to witnesses at the scene, Sophia was breathing but unconscious. The bus driver stopped, officials said. Montgomery County Hospital District medics arrived and immediately started life-saving procedures on her, police said. Sophia was transported to Texas Children’s Hospital in The Woodlands where she succumbed to her injuries at 8:42 a.m., authorities said.
“She was a very outgoing full of energy, full of joy, full of everything and loving,” Zabala said.
Crash investigators with Conroe police were called to the scene and started an investigation. Investigators interviewed eyewitnesses and reviewed dashcam video from the school bus.
Conroe police released a statement that read, in part, “It appears that the child lives near the bus stop and ran in front of the school bus as it was departing from the pick-up location. The Conroe Police Department sends prayers to the family, witnesses, and emergency responders for this tragedy. The crash is still under investigation at the time of this release.”
A GoFundMe account for Sophia has been made to help the family with funeral expenses, click link to donate.