Kyrie Henry, aged 4, was traveling aboard a South Carolina school bus when, for unknown reasons, the northbound bus crossed into the oncoming lane and struck a southbound semi truck. The truck driver, James Gillette, aged 44, apparently attempted to swerve away from the bus as it entered his lane, but was unable to safely evade the wrong-way bus. The collision took place on Beech Island Avenue, near the intersection with Scarborough Drive, just after 7 a.m. on Wednesday, May 27, 2015. Described by his grieving grandmother as a happy child who was a joy for others to be around, Kyrie Henry was a student at a preschool funded by South Carolina’s Greendale Elementary School.
South Carolina State Representative Bill Taylor issued a statement that the bus had working seat belts, and that Henry was wearing one such seat belt at the time of the crash. However, in spite of these safety measures, the young boy was declared dead at the scene of the accident. Three other people sustained injuries in the crash—two students and the bus driver—all of whom were evaluated by first responders before being transported to area medical centers for treatment. None of the injuries sustained by these three individuals were reported as life-threatening, nor were there any other fatalities. A total of ten people were on the bus at the time of the crash: eight students, one aide, and the driver. The students on board were a mixture of attendees of Greendale Elementary and Chukker Creek schools.
A school aide reported that bus driver Barbara Moore, aged 51, was not using her cell phone to text at the time of the incident, as had been suspected by witnesses to the collision. The reason for Moore’s veering into oncoming traffic has not yet been established, and the investigation remains ongoing at this time. School counselors are reportedly available at both campuses to help confused and grieving students cope with the crash. Parents of students at Chukker Creek and Greendale whose children were not involved in the collision received pre-recorded phone calls informing them that the incident had taken place. Parents whose children were on board the bus at the time of the accident were informed directly. State education representatives reported that this crash is the first in South Carolina to end in a student fatality in 20 years.