Family demands answers from OCPS about 15-year-old's deadly school bus ride: 'My brother is not breathing'

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - The family of 15-year-old Jasiel Sanders is demanding answers from Orange County Public Schools after the middle school student died after suffering a medical emergency on a school bus on Monday. 

Sanders' parents, Victoria O'Neal and Ronald Sanders, alongside their attorney, Greg Francis of Osborne & Francis, hosted a press conference on Wednesday morning. They said the situation "rings of negligence" after the bus driver allegedly didn't pull over, despite the pleas from Sanders' 13-year-old sister who said her brother needed help. 

"You shouldn't let the child get on the bus if you see the signs," O'Neal said. Sanders' sister said her brother had been having trouble breathing in the six minutes after they'd left their house that morning. "Maybe my son would have still been here."

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Sanders and his sister were picked up by the school bus at around 8:45 a.m. to go to College Park Middle School, their mom said. 

"'My brother's having trouble breathing. My brother's having trouble breathing,'" Sanders' sister told the bus driver on the way to school on Monday morning, according to Francis. 

The bus driver allegedly told her to sit down. 

"'My brother has passed out. My brother's passed out. We need help. We need 911,'" Sanders' sister said when she returned to the bus driver, who, again, allegedly directed her to sit down. 

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The 13-year-old girl got a hold of her mother over the phone, who directed her to call an ambulance and the police herself since the bus driver allegedly did not want to, according to O'Neal. 

"It's hurtful that my daughter had to tell the driver to stop, to pull over, ‘My brother is not breathing,’" O'Neal continued. 

It wasn't until an unrelated altercation erupted in the back of the bus that the bus driver pulled over, according to Francis. In the statement from Orange County Public Schools, they said the bus driver noticed the teenager having a medical emergency after the fact and then called 911, which, according to the school district, is "standard operating procedure."

Francis said that's not true based on what they've learned from Sanders' sister and other students on the bus. 

"(The sister), in fact, had apprised the bus driver on a number of occasions that her brother was having problems and that the bus driver, at one point, asked, ‘Is he faking? Is he playing? Is he faking?'" Francis said. 

When the bus pulled over, personnel from the Orlando Police Department and Orlando Fire Department responded and Sanders was transported to a local hospital, where he died at around 10:30 a.m. His mother arrived at the hospital, where she was greeted by her 13-year-old daughter and a nurse who told her that her son had passed away. 

"It hurt me to see my son like that on that gurney in that bed," O'Neal said. 

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O'Neal confirmed to reporters that her son did not have a previously known medical condition. He loved to play football, loved to spend time with his family and was a healthy kid, she said. 

"I'm still hurt from it. I'm still going through it. It's not gonna bring my son back, but all I know is that my daughter wanted to save her brother's life. … She saw her brother take his last breath and close his eyes and that's something no one should witness, especially a 13-year-old," O'Neal said. "Right now, my daughter is traumatized from this. 

"She's gonna need help. I'm gonna need help. I don't know how I'm going to go through this, cope through this. I'm grieving, I'm hurt. I just want answers on why nobody didn't do what they were supposed to do to save my son."

Sanders' family and their attorneys are conducting their own independent investigation to figure out what happened to 15-year-old Jasiel Sanders. They said they're speaking to other kids on the bus to paint a picture of what happened that morning, and they're awaiting the boy's autopsy to determine the official cause of death. 

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"This right here, it really hurts. I would want no parent to go through this, what I'm going through," O'Neal said. "I would want no student to be feeling like their life is in jeopardy when they get on a school bus because no one wants to come to their rescue."

The family is calling on Orange County Public Schools to change their protocols and procedures when a student is having a medical emergency on a bus. It's unknown at this time if the bus driver was someone who knew how to do CPR, but it's something that bus drivers should be equipped to handle, according to Francis. 

"We want to make sure that we get answers, and we want to get independent answers," Francis said. 

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Police don't think there was any foul play, and the school district confirmed to FOX 35 that the medical event is not under investigation by law enforcement at this time. 

The incident is under internal review by the school district's Office of Professional Standards, and the bus driver was placed on administrative leave. The school district said this is standard practice pending the outcome of an internal review. 

Orange County Public Schools said in a statement to FOX 35 on Wednesday that the findings of the district's preliminary investigation "do not reflect the allegations that have been made," and that the case is still under review. 

"We will not argue the facts in the public space," a spokesperson said, adding that OCPS school buses are equipped with cameras. 

FOX 35 has requested the surveillance footage, but the district said that pursuant to Florida law, it's considered a student record and is therefore confidential. Only parents can view the video with supervision at the school if the child or student has been disciplined for the incident. 

Orange CountyNews