Last Updated on January 30, 2017 by CCAR Staff
WHITTIER >> A judge on Monday sentenced a school bus driver to two years in prison for leaving an autistic Whittier teen in a bus for hours on a sweltering day. The 19-year-old died from overheating.
Sarah Ardalani, spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, said all the windows on the bus were closed and the temperature hit nearly 96 degrees on Sept. 11, 2015.
Armando Ramirez, 37, of Apple Valley read a statement during his sentencing Monday at Norwalk Superior Court and apologized to the family of Hun Joon “Paul” Lee, according to Jonathan Lynn, Ramirez’s attorney.
“He accepts responsibility for what happened. He regrets this every day,” Lynn said. “He has a daughter himself.”
Ramirez took a deal and pleaded guilty earlier this month to a felony count of dependent adult abuse resulting in death. He also admitted to an allegation of proximately causing the death of Lee, who was autistic and nonverbal.
“He wanted to plead guilty to accept responsibility and to give closure to the victim’s family,” Lynn said.
Ramirez had faced a possible maximum sentence of nine years in prison if he had been convicted.
He waived his appearance at a May 1 restitution hearing and his lawyer will be there on his behalf.
“There is no sentence that could have been handed down today that would nullify the pain inflicted by Armando Ramirez as a result of his reckless actions that claimed the life of Hun Joon “Paul” Lee,” Rahul Ravipudi of Panish Shea & Boyle LLP said in a statement. The law firm represents the Lee family in a wrongful death lawsuit against Whittier Union High School District and Pupil Transportation Cooperative.
“Paul was deeply loved by his family, friends and the special needs community and his death was a preventable, senseless tragedy. On behalf of the Lee family, we will remain vigilant in our pursuit of justice for Paul in order to prevent this from ever happening again to another family,” Ravipudi said.
Lee’s death led to a new law requiring school buses in California to be equipped with a child-safety alarm system in the back that must be turned off by the bus driver. This ensures the driver checks each seat.
Sponsored by state Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, the new law also requires drivers to receive training in child-safety check procedures upon the annual renewal of their school bus driver’s licenses.
Lee’s family became worried when the teen didn’t come home the afternoon of Sept. 11, 2015. He was a student at Sierra Vista Adult School. His family called the school and Whittier police.
Lee was found unconscious and lying on the floor of a school bus parked at Mulberry Drive and Greenleaf Avenue in Whittier.
Deputy District Attorney Michael DeRose said Lee died at the scene.
Ramirez was the substitute driver for the bus Lee rode that day. Ramirez thought the teen got off the bus but didn’t look over his shoulder and didn’t walk to the back of the bus to check if anyone was still in the vehicle, according to DeRose.
Ramirez. who worked a split shift that day, parked the bus at the bus yard and went home. When he returned to work in the afternoon, a dispatcher told him about Lee being missing.
DeRose said Ramirez checked the bus, found Lee unresponsive and called for help.
Lee was left in the bus for seven hours on a day when temperatures reached nearly 100 degrees, according to the lawsuit filed by Lee’s family.
Ramirez worked as a substitute driver for Pupil Transportation Cooperative, which is contracted by the Whittier Union High School District to provide bus service.
