By Associated Press - Saturday, September 28, 2019

SULLIVAN, Ill. (AP) - A collision between a school bus and a sport-utility vehicle has killed a 5-year-old central Illinois boy who was a passenger on the bus.

Moultrie County Coroner Lynn Reed tells the News-Gazette Tyson Mendoza of Gays was pronounced dead at the scene of Friday afternoon’s crash along a rural stretch of Illinois 32.

The Sullivan Elementary School student was among 11 students on a Sullivan Schools bus when the collision occurred several miles south of the city of Sullivan.



The driver of the SUV, 56-year-old Lori Samples of Decatur, was also pronounced dead at the scene, while the bus driver was injured.

Police said Samples had stopped at a stop sign at an intersection and was proceeding across Illinois 32 when the southbound school bus struck her SUV’s driver’s side.

___

Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com

Copyright © 2026 The Washington Times, LLC.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.