Overview
- The child, seven‑year‑old Ngone Talla, was discovered unresponsive in her wheelchair when her First Student bus reached her Northside home on Wednesday and was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where she was declared dead shortly after arrival.
- The Hamilton County coroner reported no obvious external trauma and the cause of death remains pending while Cincinnati police continue a criminal investigation and the coroner conducts autopsy and toxicology tests.
- Ngone’s family says the bus arrived late, sat for about 10 to 15 minutes before staff summoned the mother, the usual bus aide was not aboard and the assistant on the bus was unfamiliar to them, and the father placed a 911 call at about 5:03 p.m. with crews dispatched soon after.
- Legal and education experts say investigators will need to check Ngone’s Individualized Education Program for required transport supports and determine whether the adults on the bus had the training, information and monitoring duties required to meet those needs.
- First Student and Cincinnati Public Schools say they are cooperating and CPS has deployed its Crisis Response Unit, and next steps to watch include police interviews of bus staff, review of staffing and training records, and the coroner’s final medical findings.