The mother of Deshon Johnson, the 22-year-old Montclair man who died after being run over by a bus in Bloomfield
during the summer, is gathering names on a petition seeking a memorial
to her son and the passage of a state law that would toughen the
penalties for bus drivers who injure or kill pedestrians.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NAOMI JOHNSON
Naomi Johnson, of Greenwood Avenue, with her 22-year-old son
Deshon, who was killed while trying to catch a bus in July.
As of early afternoon on Tuesday, 172 people had signed the
online petition, which calls upon NJ Transit and Coach USA to "stop
reckless, aggressive, and rude bus drivers from taking innocent lives"
and advocates for a law that would "implement safety awareness and jail
time" for bus drivers who hurt pedestrians. The website includes a
series of links to news stories about fatal bus accidents, including an
Oct. 4 article published by The Record about a 65-year-old bus driver
who was charged with vehicular homicide after she allegedly ran a red
light in Passaic and killed a passenger who had just stepped off her bus.
The petition presses for either a memorial to be put up on the Bay Avenue bridge, just off Broad Street in Bloomfield, where Deshon Johnson was killed, or for a street to be named in his honor.
The victim was trying to catch the 709 NJ Transit bus, which
is contracted out to Coach USA, on the morning of July 18 when the bus
struck and killed him, according to police. An eyewitness told The Times
that the victim was found lying on his back in the eastbound lane of
Bay Avenue near Brookside Park, and the bus had stopped 50 to 100 feet
away.
In the petition, Naomi Johnson, Deshon's mother, states that
the bus "came speeding around the corner, never stopping, and jumped
the curb," while her son was knocking on the door to be allowed in. The
grieving Greenwood Avenue resident began investigating the accident
along with two close friends after getting few answers from authorities.
They have pieced together their own account of what occurred that
morning based on discussions with merchants in the area and surveillance
footage captured by those retailers' cameras.
Based on their findings, Naomi Johnson stated that her son fell when the bus rode up on the curb, and he was dragged to death.
No charges have been filed in connection with the incident, and the investigation is ongoing.
"These cases are dismissed and labeled as an accident and this needs to stop," the petition states.
Brad Schenerman, Johnson's attorney, described his client as "a very nice woman under the most difficult of circumstances."
"The worst tragedy, for any person, is to bury your child," he said.
Deshon Johnson had helped his mother, who had been involved
in her own disabling auto accident years earlier, has permanent nerve
damage to the right side of her body and walks with difficulty, to cook,
clean and get to doctors' appointments.
Naomi Johnson was dependent on her son to get through the
day, "and that magnifies the effect of losing him," Schenerman said. "I
shudder every time I think of the kid."
Schenerman said he had no information about the bus driver's
years of experience and what, if any, disciplinary action was taken
against him or her. The attorney said he has not filed suit against NJ
Transit or Coach USA, but he has described himself as the lawyer
representing Naomi Johnson "for the civil matter" and he declined to go
into specifics about the circumstances of the crash, saying "I would
rather not try the case in public."
Naomi Johnson could not be immediately reached for comment by phone or email.
Contact Dan Prochilo at prochilo@northjersey.com
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