Last Updated on January 14, 2023 by CCAR Staff
WHITTIER >> On a night that should have had Hun Joon “Paul” Lee eat birthday cake and open presents surrounded by family, Tuesday was one where about 500 people, mostly empathetic strangers, took part in a vigil honoring him.
The non-verbal autistic teen, who died aboard a school bus nearly two weeks ago, was celebrated for being a happy young man who was the center of his family.
Parents, a lot with special needs children accompanying them to the courtyard of Sierra Vista Center, spoke of their empathetic grief for the Lee family on the day of what would have been his 20th birthday.
“I was devastated,” said Sally Lunbeck, who was in attendance with her husband, Alan, and their daughter, Amber, who once rode Pupil Transportation Cooperative buses as a special needs student. “I can’t pretend to know what Paul’s family, especially his parents, are going through.”
They admitted to some “struggles” with PTC years ago, but on Tuesday night the Lunbecks, they said, were just one among many families to pay their respects and say a prayer for Lee.
He died after being left unattended for hours on a bus parked at a Whittier Union High School District parking lot leased to PTC. The death shocked the community and prompted action on initiating new safety measures aboard school buses.
PTC officials have confirmed there were two other students on the bus with Lee and that no adult aide was on the bus because the students’ Individualized Educational Plan stated none was required.
“It’s always a struggle to trust people to take care of your children,” Alan Lunbeck said, trusting they have the safety measures in place to do the job.”
Carlos Peralta, whose daughter, Ellie, 20, takes PTC buses to attend the same special needs transitional program as Lee was sad and angry about the teen’s death.
“How could something like this happen?” he asked. “Someone was supposed to be taking care of Paul. He was a good kid who should have gotten off that bus alive.”
A substitute driver, or “cover” driver, drove the bus carrying Lee, PTC officials said. Six cover drivers, who go through the same training as regular drivers but not may be up-to-date on the individual needs of each safety needs student they transport, work for PTC, which has a fleet of more than 100 buses that travel more than a million miles annually, officials said.
PTC admitted that the driver, who is on administrative leave, signed off on the bus being cleared.
An official cause of death for Lee has been deferred by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner, pending the results of toxicology and other tests.
