'It's our worst nightmare': Toddler killed by bus

By Mary Carey and SCOTT MERZBACH
Staff Writers

Published on October 03, 2008

A toddler was killed Tuesday morning when he was struck by a school bus on Summer Street near his home at Mill Hollow Apartments in North Amherst.

Michael Cahillane, an assistant district attorney for the Northwestern District Attorney's Office, said the victim was 2-year-old Abraham Espinoza. Cahillane declined to specify the circumstances of the accident or whether charges are pending.

The accident took place around 8 a.m. and police officers responded at 8:06 a.m. Abraham was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the child was at the bus stop with his mother and older sister, a student at Mark's Meadow Elementary School, at the time of the accident.

Both parents work at Hadley hotels managed by the Hampshire Hospitality Group.

Curt Shumway, president of Hampshire Hospitality, said in an email Wednesday that he and his employees will do whatever they can to help the family cope with its loss.

"We are all devastated by this horrible situation," Shumway said. "We are all doing the best we can to be as supportive in this difficult time."

No specific plans have yet developed. "It has been heavy on my mind to find a way to help, but nothing seems adequate," Shumway said.

The Mill Hollow complex that the Espinozas call home is about a minute's walk from Puffer's Pond. A friend of the family who answered the door Tuesday said family members were too upset to talk. A small bike and assorted toys lay on the walkway leading to the door.

Abraham followed his older sister wherever she went, said a neighbor who was standing in the apartment parking lot.

At Mark's Meadow Tuesday evening, dozens of cars filled the parking lot and parents entered the building with young children. Interim co-superintendent Alton Sprague, who was to speak to parents, stood outside to talk with reporters. There was very little information he was at liberty to share, he said.

"After a tragic death or a serious injury, there's a need for the school community to unify its efforts," Sprague said. "We have a sort of game plan, a crisis plan."

He had driven to Amherst on Tuesday morning from Cape Cod as soon as he was notified of the incident. He and his wife, co-superintendent Helen Vivian, were on a short vacation there.

"It's our worst nightmare, really," he said.

Police notified school officials about the incident, and the state police reconstruction team was called to the scene. Summer Street was closed to through traffic for the investigation.

Vivian said grief counseling will be available to anyone in the school district.

"We want to provide all the support we can to anyone in the school community who is affected by this horrible event," she said.

Mark's Meadow Principal Nick Yaffe has said that he or a counselor will talk to anyone who wants to speak with them, Vivian said.

In a letter on the school district Web site, Sprague said the district is "confident we can provide the support our students need in school, but, because you know your children best, please let us know if there is anything else you need from us to help them through this difficult process."

Amherst families with children in the schools received an automated call shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday informing parents that a Mark's Meadow family lost a child and that parents would be updated with more information when it became available.

"Our thoughts go out to the family of the victim, and we know the community will join us in rallying around them," said Sprague in his letter to the district.

Amherst police would not comment, and referred all questions to the district attorney.

An autopsy was scheduled at the chief medical examiner's office in Holyoke Wednesday, Cahillane said.

"No further comment will be made until after the autopsy is completed," Cahillane said.

He said he does not know when the results of the autopsy will be known.

Attempts to reach the two bus companies that contract with Amherst were unsuccessful Tuesday.

The bus driver was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton following the accident and was interviewed by police there.