Cass County bus crash mom sues

MONTICELLO - It's been nearly two months without Tyler, but Lee said she is holding up.

"I have my good days, and I have my bad days," said Lee.

Four families are living with the memory of the fatal Cass County bus crash. The Monticello students were heading home from school in Logansport, a trip Lee said she wanted to avoid in the first place. Now, she said she plans to sue.

"The reason I'm suing the school corporation, as well as the drivers of the trucks, is because I fought for my child not to travel 30 miles to Logansport everyday, 30 miles and back. They shouldn't have shunned these children out of the school system. It was like them going on a field trip everyday. It was very unsafe," said Lee.

Lee's lawyer, Jerry Altman, appointed her to be the Administratrix over her son's estate. Now she has the authority to proceed with litigation. One of the first steps she said she must take is proving Tyler's trip to Logansport was unnecessary.

"He had cerebral palsy, but he was doing so well. He was running in his walker, he was getting a speech board. He couldn't talk, but he was using a computer at school. He knew exactly what he wanted," said Lee.

On her lawyer's advice, she must name all parties involved in the wreck once she does officially file the lawsuit, including the school bus driver, Debbie DuVall.

Lee said she does not blame DuVall, though. "I am not suing the bus driver, because she would have done anything for them children. The only reason her name has to be on the papers is because she was involved in the accident," Lee said.

Lee said she wants a few laws changed or created from this situation. "With the school corporation and the traveling issues of any children with special needs,the bus - the bus itself did not have stop signs. It was not a yellow bus. It was a little white bus," said Lee.

Lee said the drivers of the Mack dump trucks were speeding, and she feels the dump truck owners could make some changes as well.

"I hope they start getting paid by the hour, instead of getting paid by the load, because I'm assuming that's why they were in such a hurry. Where the accident site is, there's a blind spot. They came up on this guy on this moped, and they slammed their brakes and lost control," Lee said.

Lee plans to remember Tyler this Christmas with an ornament of his favorite band, Nickelback.