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Jury indicts driver for child's death

Lauren Hetzel, For The Miami Student

An Oxford woman is facing charges of aggravated vehicular homicide in connection to the death of a toddler last month.

The incident occurred at an elementary school bus stop the afternoon of Sept. 2.

According to Public Information Officer Jon Varley of Oxford Police Department (OPD), the bus had stopped to let children off when the boy was hit.

The one-year old's mother boarded the school bus to look for her five-year old while the toddler stood on the sidewalk with other siblings.

Although the bus' hazard lights were turned on, Randalla Wright, 29, allegedly drove her car around it, and continued on through the intersection.

While passing the bus, Wright struck the toddler.

He was taken to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after.

"I don't know why she wouldn't just wait the extra three minutes for the bus to move," Miami University senior Danielle Lynch said. "Buses have hazard lights for a reason. It's obviously hard to see little kids when they're getting off. It's just so sad since this could have been completely prevented."

Officers arrested Wright that day after learning she was driving with a suspended license and had also violated her probation.

Wright has been in custody at the Butler County jail since the morning of Sept. 3, the day after the incident.

"Currently, she's being held on traffic related offenses ... two probation violations, and aggravated vehicular homicide," Butler County chief deputy, Anthony Dwyer said.

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While in custody for her previous offenses, the prosecution investigated the toddlers' death. Once the investigation was over, the prosecution presented a Butler County grand jury with charges in connection to the child's death.

As for why Wright was not charged with the homicide immediately, "I would venture to say that if she wouldn't have had those charges, they probably would've charged her that day," Dwyer said.

Last week, the jury chose to indict her on the homicide charges.

"The next step will be going to court. She'll be arraigned on the charges and there'll probably be a trial," Varley said.

According to Varley, Wright was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, instead of simply vehicular homicide due to the nature of the accident.

"She shouldn't have been driving in the first place because she was already under suspension," Varley said.

If found guilty, Wright could face between two and eight years in prison.