Child Killed While Waiting on School Bus

The accident in Tenaha, Texas killed seven-year-old JaLyric Boykin and injured her younger brother, five-year-old Nathan Cooks, and her teenage aunt.

Hours after Tuesday morning's accident, family members were still standing at the end of their driveway wondering how something so routine as waiting for a bus, could turn into something so tragic.

"The little girl was like this right here," said witness Jackie Downing, "In the water, the other little girl was like this, right here, on top of her.

Downing was one of two drivers who came to a stop when she saw bus No. 4 approaching from the opposite direction.

She says the yellow lights were blinking as she watched the bus begin to stop. Then, something from the rear caught her attention.

"We were stopping, when the man (came) around. Kids were right there, then he hit them," Downing said, "The little boy ended up being down the road there. The little girls were here in the ditch. When we got out to get the kids, they were face down in the water. The one little girl, we ended up having to do CPR on."

The pickup truck drove down the shoulder, eventually rolling over, onto the children. The 15-year-old aunt to the younger children and the sister to the 9th grader saw it all.

"Then, it hit my sister, and my little niece and nephew. Then they were still breathing for a minute," said Victoria Cooks, "Then the boy went all the way down the road right there."

School authorities said the children were following the rules. They were standing in their driveway, back from the road.

The school's principal said if the students had broken the rules, they may not have been hit.

According to school officials, the five-year-old boy is on life support and is listed in extremely critical condition. The 14-year-old's condition is listed as stable at a Tyler, Texas hospital.