CINCINNATI — Almost two months after a 7-year-old special needs Cincinnati Public Schools student died on her school bus, an autopsy report is providing clarity surrounding her death.
According to a Hamilton County Coroner's Office autopsy report, Ngone Talla died due to "positional asphyxiation," and the manner of death was accidental.
Ngone, a Cincinnati Public Schools student at Roselawn Condon School, was nonverbal, used a wheelchair and had developmental disabilities, according to her family.
Her father, Abdoula Talla, previously told WCPO 9 his daughter was healthy and happy when she went to school Wednesday, Sept. 16 morning. Her family said the bus arrived at their Northside home shortly before 5 p.m., but sat outside for 10 to 15 minutes before they were asked to come aboard.
That's when Ngone's 12-year-old sister, Marema Talla, said she found her motionless in her wheelchair.
"I checked her pulse, and she wasn't breathing," Marema said. "So I was like panicked."
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Abdoula said he called 911 at approximately 5:03 p.m. Emergency dispatch recordings reviewed by WCPO show crews were sent to the family's Colerain Avenue address at 5:05 p.m. for a child in possible cardiac arrest.
According to the autopsy report, Ngone was sitting in a "five-point" seat belt restraint system for her wheelchair. While moving her arms and legs in the wheelchair, Ngone's butt slipped off the wheelchair seat, and the seat belt and restraint system compressed her right neck and chin. This compression caused rapid asphyxiation and loss of consciousness.
The autopsy report says that there was a "delay in care prior to emergency services contact," and Ngone was eventually pronounced dead at the scene.
Ngone did not have any trauma to the head, torso or extremities, per the autopsy report.
WCPO has previously asked CPS whether the driver and assistant are under investigation and what staffing and monitoring requirements were in place on Ngone's bus. The district has not yet answered those questions.
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Abdoula told WCPO there was a driver and an assistant aboard his daughter's bus Wednesday. But he said the assistant was someone his family had never seen before.
The assistant who normally rode the bus with Ngone was not there that day, according to Abdoula.
WCPO has asked CPS to confirm whether the employee was new or serving as a substitute.
That question could be significant depending on what Ngone's Individualized Education Program, or IEP, required, Carla Leader, an Ohio attorney who specializes in education and special education law, told WCPO.
WCPO does not know what Ngone's IEP required, whether it called for an aide during transportation or what training the employees aboard her bus had received.
Leader cautioned that those unanswered questions should not be taken as evidence that someone failed to follow Ngone's IEP or that her death was preventable.
Abdoula said he believes someone aboard the bus should have called 911 if they realized his daughter was in distress.
"If you see any kid not moving or anything happen, I think what you're supposed to do, call 911 and try to get some help," he said.
