SOMERVILLE, N.J. - Wearing handcuffs and a pensive, sad facial expression, the 27-year-old school bus monitor charged with manslaughter in connection to a 6-year-old girl's death appeared in court for the first time Tuesday.
Amanda Davila was released from custody after the judge determined she was not a flight risk and cited her clean criminal record. However, the defendant cannot have contact with school-age children, the victim's parents, or the school.
Davila is charged in connection to the death of Fajr Williams, a non-verbal girl with special needs. Williams was found unresponsive in her wheelchair in the back of the school bus last week.
"Fajr meant the world to me," said the girl's mother, Najmah Nash, who spoke to the media after Davila's court appearance. "She was my baby. She was my light."
Nash sat and looked on in Somerset County Court. Several supporters sat on Davila's side of the courtroom.
Prosecutors argued against bail but were denied.
"The judge followed the law and that's all I can expect right now," said Nash, who said she does not have anything to say to Davila. "No, I would not want to say anything because it would be distasteful."
Prosecutors said the girl was choked by the four-point harness that strapped her into her wheelchair in the back of a Montauk Transit school bus in Franklin Township.
Authorities said a few bumps in the road caused Williams to slump in her wheelchair, causing the harness to block her airway. Davila didn't see it because she was in front of the bus on her phone with headphones in, authorities said.
Officials said an onboard video shows 14 minutes went by, and nobody on the bus noticed.
"Being there was harder than I expected," Nash said. "Just hearing them over and over again explain what happened to my Fajr was heartbreaking all over again."
A GoFundMe organized by Nash has raised nearly $12,000.
"It's just a tragedy, such a tragedy," Michael Policastro, Davila's attorney, said.
The lawyer said Davila has a 2-year-old with special needs and has worked at the company for the last seven years without any issues.
"To say someone's on her cellphone doesn't mean she was listening or had music on or anything like that," Policastro said.
If convicted, Davila could face five to 10 years in prison. She is due back in court on Aug. 28.
