Parents of Kindergartner Killed by Bus Sue Modesto and Modesto City Schools

The parents of a Tuolumne Elementary School Kindergartner who was killed by a Modesto Area Express bus have filed wrongful-death claims against the city and school districts.

The victim, Alan Alexander Navarro Fernandoz, 5, was hit by a MAX bus near the school and died at noon on March 26 while crossing the street.

The wrongful-death claims blame Modesto for putting a bus route along a street with an elementary school, which becomes a heavily congested area when parents drop off and pick up their children.

According to the claims, Modesto City Schools ignored complaints about the risks children experience as a result of the heavy traffic and the absence of a place where parents can drop off and pick up their children.

Officer Chuck Leo of the California Highway Patrol said investigators determined that the driver did not have time to react when the boy ran into the path of the bus, but Christopher Lampke, the attorney of the mother, Ana Fernandez, said the wrongful-death claims raise entirely different issues.