Their son was hit by a Crystal Lake school bus and died. Now districts try to blame ‘negligent’ parents

Lawyers for two Crystal Lake school districts, which are being sued over the death of a 3-year-old boy who was hit by a school bus in Cary, want to argue in court that the child’s parents were “negligent” and “caused” his endangerment by failing to stop him from playing in the street, according to a filing in the civil lawsuit in McHenry County court.

The document also said if the defendants – Crystal Lake District 47, Community High School District 155, which share a busing system, and the bus driver Koleen Janquart – lose at trial, they want to countersue Rachel and Brandon Huddleston, the parents of Samuel Huddleston, who was killed after being struck by the school bus May 16, 2022, in Cary.

Samuel, the youngest of six children, was hit by the bus while playing on his red Radio Flyer ride-on push scooter in the street near Cherry and Hill streets, Cary police have said. The child died of multiple blunt force injuries, the McHenry County Coroner’s Office determined. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash happened when the bus, carrying one student, was turning north onto Hill from Cherry and hit the child. Neither the driver or the student on the bus were injured.

Janquart, 63, of Crystal Lake, was ticketed for failure to reduce speed and failure to exercise due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian or person on a bike. Both citations were dismissed, according to an order filed in court. Janquart has not been charged criminally, records show.

The motion filed this month by the school districts’ attorneys, Chicago-based Tressler LLP, aims to convince the judge in the case that Samuel’s parents have some accountability in his death. Among them are the districts’ claims that the parents failed to prevent the boy from “entering a roadway on a toy vehicle from a location other than a crosswalk,” “knowingly caused” the child to be endangered and “failed to take necessary precautions to monitor [their son’s] activities,” exposing him to “foreseeable harm.”

In the filing, the school districts’ attorneys claim that the parents “failed to adequately supervise [their son’s] whereabouts as he played near and/or in the street” and “negligently” allowed him to play in the street “despite knowing the risks associated with such conduct, including turning school buses.”

It further states that the parents did not equip the scooter “with a flag or other form of visible device or equipment so that [the boy] could be easily seen from a distance by turning vehicles.”

Accordin to the lawsuit filed by the Huddlestons, Janquart knew the area, the day was clear, the road was dry, and there were no cars or other obstructions in her way. The lawsuit also claims that Janquart told a “McHenry County Regional Major Crash Assistance Team member ... that it is “known that kids play in the area” of the crash, and there are no sidewalks or parkways next to the road where Samuel was playing.

According to the lawsuit, Rachel Huddleston “was outside of her home, standing on the western-most part of the home’s driveway closest to Hill Street and near the family minivan, watching and supervising” Samuel.

“She heard and observed the school bus ‘flying down’ Cherry Street to turn left onto Hill Street,” according to the lawsuit.

“Despite trying to “wave off” and “yell” at the bus, Huddleston “witnessed bus No. 389 cut the left-hand turn from Cherry Street into the southbound lane ... of Hill Street and strike” her son “and his toy scooter with the front driver’s side of the bus,” according to the lawsuit. The boy’s mother witnessed him “be forcefully knocked off of his scooter” and into the air and then fall onto the ground, when the bus, “without braking,” struck the child a second time, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that Janquart told the mother after the crash that the boy “‘ran out in front of me’” and then “profanely told the [the child’s] father ... ‘I’m gonna lose my [expletive] job over this.’” She then “contacted her employer and/or insurer, for the purpose of reporting the injury and death of the minor child” but did not call 911, according to the lawsuit, which notes that she also told investigators she did not see anyone in the road.

Although there was video and audio recording on the school bus that captured the morning route, it did not include the afternoon runs or the moments of the accident, according to the lawsuit. Attorneys for the Huddleston family allege that employees of the transportation company or the school districts “converted, copied, moved, backed up, and/or deleted data on the video and audio hard drive taken from bus No. 389,” according to the lawsuit.

An online obituary described Samuel as “a little light of sunshine” who had the “biggest smile but also the best grumpy face.” He enjoyed fishing, camping and hunting Big Foot in the woods, and playing at the park.

Attempts to reach attorneys for the defense and plaintiffs were not successful Wednesday. Spokespersons for Districts 47 and 155 did not return a request for comment Wednesday.