REST IN PARADISE APRIL PHAN
Sodany April Phann was three days away from her 16th birthday when her life was cut short just feet from the end of her driveway on a dark and rain-soaked morning.
A memorial for the Lakota East High School sophomore struck and killed by a school bus early Monday, March 29, near her Long Drive home grew throughout the day, as did mourners who came to offer shoulders and condolences to grieving family and friends.
“She had made it,” said April’s uncle, Sareth Phann, as he sobbed and prayed, standing over the spot where the honor roll student’s body came to rest in the middle of the street. “Life is already rough enough, and now this happens? Why? I can’t even explain it.”
The Butler County Sheriff’s Office received frantic calls within seconds after April was struck while crossing the street in the Elk Run subdivision, headed to her bus stop a few hundred yards away.
The first 911 call at 6:22 a.m. was from a woman who told the dispatcher, “Someone is laying in the street in my subdivision,” as people could be heard screaming and crying in the background.
A male caller at 6:26 a.m. said “We’ve got a girl here who has been hit by a bus — she’s dead.”
Family members said the bus, described by Lakota officials as a special-needs bus for the district, was making a turn in a cul-de-sac when the teen was struck.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy is scheduled for this morning, according to Butler County Coroner Dr. Richard Burkhardt, who said April appeared to have died of head trauma.
About an hour after the girl’s body was taken from the scene, family members erected a memorial with lit candles and incense at the end of their driveway. The memorial grew to include a teddy bear, her favorite foods and other items throughout the day.
Vuthy Phann, 15, the victim’s uncle who witnessed the accident, said the teen was struck by the front of the bus, and that the bus driver did not initially stop. He said that he ran up to the bus and pounded on the window, screaming at the driver, “Look at what you did!”
He said the driver appeared confused and continued on a short distance. “She put up her hands like she had no clue,” he said of the driver, whose name was not released on Monday.
The driver, who worked for Petermann Bus Co., has been driving the same route all year, said Keith Harms, safety director for Petermann. The employee has been with the company for 23 years and has a “spotless” record, he said.
The bus had only one student aboard at the time of the accident, according to Laura Kursman, spokeswoman for the Lakota School District.
Grief counselors were on hand at Lakota East and other schools Monday, and will be throughout the week, Kursman said.
In the minutes that followed Sodony April Phann’s fatal bus accident Monday morning, March 29, 4-year-old Anna Phann asked relatives when she might see her sister again.
“She asked us, ‘When is she coming back?’ ” a tearful Samantha Phann, April’s aunt, said about the conversation with the little girl. “But she’s never coming back. How do you tell her that?”
The sophomore at Lakota East High School was to turn 16 on Thursday. Family members said they were planning a birthday party for the person they described as a humble and giving young woman who lived in a strict household and had aspirations of becoming a veterinarian.
Family members said the teen was crossing the street to get to her bus stop — a few hundred yards away — as the bus was making a slow turn in the cul-de-sac when she was struck.
Minutes later, Samantha Phann said she stepped outside and ran to the street, watching as emergency personnel attended to the teen.
“I’m going to remember that image for the rest of my life,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “It’s forever. It’s never going to go away.”
Liberty Twp. Fire Chief Paul Stumpf, who said the teen was pronounced dead at the scene by the Butler County Coroner’s Office, called the accident one of the worst he’s seen in his lengthy career.
“Anytime it involves a kid, it’s just a different factor,” he said.
About an hour after the girl’s body was taken away, family members erected a memorial with lit candles and incense at the end of their driveway, about 30 feet from where the teen was found.
Amid sorrowful wails and streaming tears, family members lit two white candles and several incense sticks under an umbrella, sheets and blankets to keep the effects dry as it continued to rain. A white teddy bear and several bouquets of flowers joined small, short waifs of smoke.
Her uncle, Sareth Phann, sobbed as he prayed in the middle of Long Drive in the Elk Run subdivision, standing over the spot where his niece’s body came to rest.
“She’s an honor roll student,” he said, choking up. “She’s my niece. She was just walking. I just got no idea.”
The teen, who split time living with her mother in West Chester Twp. and the home in Liberty Twp., was looking forward to attending a Justin Bieber concert with friends in Cincinnati this June, Samantha Phann said.
Recently, she and her niece were watching movies together, including “The Blind Side,” which she said “makes you appreciate the things you have in life.
“That was Friday, and then this happens,” said Samantha Phann.
Butler County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Bussell said that while the girl was found lying in the middle of the street after she was struck, her exact location before the incident has yet to be determined.
A purse was found at the scene, and Bussell said there was no indication she was talking on a cell phone or texting at the time of the accident. “She was going to her bus stop that is down the street,” Bussell said, adding it was dark and raining and the area is not well lit.
The accident remains under investigation.
This made me cry. Rest in peace.
