A grand jury will not indict the driver involved in last summer's fatal bus accident in Bloomfield, according to Essex County prosecutor spokeswoman Kathy Carter.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NAOMI JOHNSON
Naomi Johnson, of Montclair, with her late son Deshon.
Montclair
resident Deshon Johnson, 22 at the time, was struck and killed on July
18 at Broad Street and Bay Avenue. He was trying to catch the 709 NJ
Transit bus, which was operated by Coach USA, according to police.
At a rally after his death, friends said the
prosecutor's office offered little help. Friend James Little said that a
video from the Exxon gas station across the street showed the bus did
not stop to pick up Johnson. As the bus passed Johnson, the vehicle went
upon the curb and killed him, Little said at the time.
Deshon's mother Naomi claims the prosecutor's office and Bloomfield police did not conduct a proper investigation.
"They just deemed it as a tragic accident without
charging the bus driver with involuntary manslaughter," she writes in an
email to local media. "When I met with the prosecutor's office in
September, Thomas S. Fennelly, chief assistant prosecutor, told me they
would be closing my son's case because they did not find any criminal
act. I later received a phone call in November from Assistant Prosecutor
Erica Liu, who told me that my son's case was going to grand jury.
"The Essex County
Prosecutor's office strung me along, only to have the grand jury come
back on February 28 with a finding of no indictment, based on the
limited information that they gathered, while ignoring information I
retrieved on my own from people who observed the fatal incident."
Naomi Johnson told Bloomfield
Life on Monday that a meeting at the prosecutor's office was postponed
last Thursday when she fainted just before the proceeding.
Deshon Johnson had helped his mother, who earlier had
been disabled in a auto accident. She has permanent nerve damage to the
right side of her body and walks with difficulty, to cook, clean and get
to doctors' appointments. She relied heavily for her only son's help,
she said in a past interview.
She had retained a lawyer, but he has repeatedly
declined to comment on potential legal action. Since the accident, Naomi
has been 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.
She also established a college scholarship
named after her son. The monies go toward a person who majors in music
or business and starts a bereavement support group for families who lose
a child. http://www.northjersey.com/news/199294151_Grand_jury_clears_driver_in_Bloomfield_fatal_accident.html?c=y&page=2
For more information, visit noneillahstore.com.
Email: frankel@northjersey.com
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