‘I thought my daughter was dead’: Dyersburg teen run over by school bus

DYERSBURG, Tenn. — A young girl was trying to get to school but instead got a trip to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital after being run over by a school bus.

“When I look at that, he could have ran over my baby’s head,” Rhonda Horton said. “He could have crushed her rib cage. Anything.”

Disturbing video obtained by WREG shows the moments 15-year-old Kennedy Jones ran to catch the school bus early one morning last November, but instead, she ended up underneath it.

Her mother, Rhonda Horton said a neighbor ran to her door to let her know what happened.

“Honestly, I thought my daughter was dead, I really did,” Horton said. “I thought she was dead and I was so afraid.”

Thankfully, Jones was alive but her legs were crushed.

She was rushed to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital where she underwent five surgeries during her two-week stay.

Jones said she was banging on the door when the incident happened, trying to get the driver to stop.

“The kids that came here after the incident, they were telling me the same thing,” Horton said. “They said, ‘She was at the door. She was banging on the door and we kept telling him to stop (and) that someone is trying to get on.”

But according to the Dyersburg Police Department, Jones slipped under the bus and the driver was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Horton told WREG that he’s still driving school buses today.

“I just can’t believe it,” Horton said. “I just can’t believe that he would still be driving these kids around after something like that happened. I mean, from what I saw on the video, it was negligence and recklessness.”

WREG reached out to the driver to get his side of the story. He answered the phone but hung up when he realized who was calling.

So, as Horton plans to file a lawsuit, she’s thrilled that her daughter is okay.

“I just thank God that she is okay,” Horton said. “I know it could have been a lot worse.”

WREG reached out to the Dyersburg High School Administration, the transportation department and the Dyersburg Police Department but have not yet heard back.

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