Police: Agency had history with mom whose son was hit by bus

A mother charged with child neglect after her unsupervised 6-year-old son was struck by a school bus has a lengthy history with child protective services.

Kimberly Marie Russi, 31, also known as Kimberly Dela Cruz, has an "extensive," 125-page history with the Clark County Department of Family Services, according to a Las Vegas police arrest report released Thursday.

Russi allowed the 6-year-old boy and his 7-year-old brother to walk alone to the bus stop at Las Vegas Boulevard near Cheyenne Avenue.

The 6-year-old boy was throwing rocks at cars from the median and darting in front of traffic before the bus ran over his right foot.

The injury was so severe that University Medical Center doctors said the foot probably needed to be amputated, the report said.

Police said Russi lied about walking the children to school and coached the 7-year-old to lie to detectives about her presence.

But the 6-year-old told detectives his mother never walked the children to school because she takes care of their 2-year-old sister at home.

The 6-year-old told police he was "trying to jaywalk" when the bus struck him.

At least one other parent told detectives she never saw a parent accompanying either of the boys at the bus stop.

The parent told police that the boy was "out of control" and that he "throws rocks and taunts" passing cars.

On Tuesday, Russi was booked into the Clark County jail on one count of child abuse and neglect with substantial bodily harm and one count of child abuse and neglect.

Clark County officials would not say whether Russi's other children were taken by Family Services.

The driver of the bus was not at fault, police said.

The bus that struck the child was not the bus he normally rides.

The boy attended Manch Elementary School, near Las Vegas Boulevard and Craig Avenue, about two miles northeast of the accident location.

The collision marks the second between a Clark County school bus and a child this year.

On March 16, Kaylee Derks was in the street when she was struck by a school bus, which dropped her off at Ann Road and Pebble Rock Drive, near U.S. Highway 95, and was returning after turning around in the neighborhood.

Investigators deemed driver Leslie Rice not at fault in the death of the 11-year-old.

A child being struck and killed by a school bus remains rare in Clark County.

The Review-Journal could find only three cases in the past two decades.

More than 1,200 buses are on the road every school day in Clark County, which has the nation's fifth-largest school district.

Thee buses make 19,000 stops daily, transporting about 100,000 students.

Review-Journal reporter Antonio Planas contributed to this story. Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.