Elyas Amyr Marshall-Rodriguez killed crawling under school bus trying to get dropped foootball. Boy attended Lawton Chiles Elementary. Was a recent cancer survivor.
Define tragedy? A 9-year-old Florida boy was struck and killed by a school bus after crawling under the vehicle to retrieve a football he had momentarily dropped.
Elyas Amyr Marshall-Rodriguez, a student at Lawton Chiles Elementary School, was the last child to get off the bus Tuesday afternoon in suburban Orlando, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
After getting off, Elyas dropped his football — and crawled under the then-stationary bus to get it, the boy’s aunt told Fox 35 News.
He had hopes of going to the NBA, NFL one day.’
The driver unaware that the boy had gone under the bus to retrieve the ball started to drive off, only to accidentally run over and kill the child, investigators said.
‘It is absolutely devastating for this family … [and] also for our investigators that have to investigate this type of scene,’ said FHP spokesperson Lt. Tara Crescenzi.
Elyas Amyr Marshall-Rodriguez died at the scene outside the Waterford East Apartments in Orange County according to WESH.
‘He was a very bubbly person. He was very compassionate,’ said the youngster’s cousin Trenae Gayle. ‘He loved being around people.’
Gayle said Elyas was a huge sports fan.
‘He loved football. He loved basketball,’ she said. ‘He had hopes of going to the NBA, NFL one day.’
Elyas relatives said he was a cancer survivor.
Cancer survivor
‘He was in remission,’ Gayle said. ‘He just got his port taken out last year. Actually he was diagnosed with leukemia, cancer, when he was two-years-old. He went through the Make-A-Wish Foundation because of how severe it was. So he had already been through a lot in his life.’
There were no other children on the bus at the time, and the unidentified 54-year-old bus driver remained at the scene, Crescenzi said.
The driver, who has 10 years’ experience and stayed and has been cooperating with investigators, officials said.
The bus was towed away to check for possible mechanical issues as troopers also reviewed footage from the bus and nearby surveillance cameras to determine exactly what happened.
Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez released a statement addressing what she called ‘the tragic death of one of our precious students.’
‘My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to the student’s family and school community,’ Vazquez wrote.
‘To lose a child so suddenly and tragically is extremely difficult, especially for family and friends.’
