Beloved Montgomery County school bus aide killed in head-on car collision
Susan Henderson, 67, was picking her granddaughter up from her first day of kindergarten in Northampton County when a driver slammed head-on into her vehicle.
A beloved Montgomery County school bus aide was killed in a car crash while on her way to pick up her granddaughter from kindergarten in Northampton County on Tuesday morning, police confirmed.
Susan Henderson, 67, worked with special-needs students in the Methacton School District. She had taken the day off Tuesday to celebrate her youngest grandchild’s first day of kindergarten in Lower Nazareth Township, 6abc reported.
The crash occurred about 10:30 a.m., police said, when 27-year-old Daneiris Abreu lost control of his Mercedes-Benz and his vehicle slammed into Henderson’s vehicle. She was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital-Anderson Campus in Bethlehem Township shortly after.
The Northampton County Coroner’s Office ruled the cause of death as homicide, according to the Morning Call.
Abreu, of the Bronx, is being held on $300,000 bail. He was charged with homicide by vehicle, aggravated assault by vehicle, fleeing the scene of a crime, and attempting to elude an officer.
The crash happened after an officer attempted to pull Abreu over for an expired inspection sticker, reported WFMZ. As the officer caught up to Abreu, police said, he sped off, going 80 mph before his vehicle crashed into Henderson’s.
Abreu — who police said was driving with a suspended license — had a passenger with him, police said. That passenger, whom police did not identify, was trapped in the Mercedes while Abreu tried to flee the scene. The passenger is being treated for burns in the intensive care unit at a local hospital, according to paperwork obtained by WFMZ.
Henderson was the mother of three daughters and the grandmother of seven children. She had worked at the Methacton School District for nearly nine years, the district said in a statement.
“Susan went above and beyond for the students,” the statement went on. “Often times, her thoughtful, generous nature gave children in need opportunities to attend school events they might not have afforded otherwise.”
Henderson’s daughter Toni Bush told 6abc that her mother treated her students as if they were her own kids.
“We knew so much about them through her stories. ... They confided in her,” Bush said. “She treated their children with kindness and patience. She was just a special person.”