POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — A Poplar Bluff Middle School student died early Friday morning after he tripped and fell under the school bus he apparently had just missed.
Fourth-grade student Zjequalin Cody was pronounced dead at 7:44 a.m. at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center emergency room by Butler County Coroner Andy Moore.
The 10-year-old died as the result of blunt-force trauma, said Moore. An autopsy is scheduled to be performed by 9:30 a.m. Saturday by Dr. Russell Deidiker at Farmington, Mo.
It was a 911 call at 7:09 a.m. that reported the accident on Crestwood Drive, said Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Clark Parrott, Troop E’s public information officer.
The patrol and its Major Crash Investigation Unit were called in to investigate the crash at the request of the Poplar Bluff Police Department. Their preliminary findings, according to Parrott, are that “the 10-year-old missed the school bus and was running up the street to try to catch it and apparently tripped and fell under the bus.”
The accident, Parrott said, happened on Crestwood “right before where Crestwood makes the hard 90-degree turn.”
The bus reportedly was southbound at the time of the crash.
“The Poplar Bluff School District was saddened to learn that one of our Middle School students was involved in a fatal accident this morning,” Poplar Bluff R-1 Superintendent Scott Dill said in a statement.
“The student was running to catch the bus unbeknownst to the driver and reportedly tripped and fell under the wheels, according to the highway patrol.” Dill said the patrol’s major crash team is performing what he described as a mechanical inspection of the bus with the district’s full cooperation.
“A crisis center has been established at the Middle School Media Center to aid students, parents and staff as they cope with this tragic turn of events,” Dill said.
Grief counseling professionals, he said, will continue to be available indefinitely where they are needed.
“Please take care of each other as we work through this sad, sad day,” Dill said. Patrol troopers and crash team investigators were accompanied by city police officers as they walked the scene, where the boy’s backpack still lay in the street about a foot from its edge.
“We’re still at the scene,” said Parrott, who indicated investigators had spoken to
the bus driver.
“The crash team is going over the bus, examining it for trace evidence on the outside of the bus,” Parrott said.
Shortly after 10 a.m., Parrott said, crash team members had “released the bus from the scene.”
Other students, Parrott said, were on the bus. Those students reportedly were transferred to another bus.
“The highway patrol crash team is one of the best in the country, and we felt something as tragic as this we needed to call in all resources,” said police Chief Danny Whiteley, who indicated he appreciated patrol Col. Sandra Karsten and Capt. Jeff Vitale for their immediate assistance.