Royal Palm Beach school bus stop to move after fatal car crash; 3 students remain hospitalized

Valentina Palm, Palm Beach Post
·3 min read

ROYAL PALM BEACH — The Palm Beach County School District will permanently relocate the bus stop where an SUV struck four Royal Palm Beach High School students early Tuesday, killing one of them and leaving another in critical condition.

District officials did not say where they would move the stop, currently on Crestwood Boulevard at Cypress Lakes Drive, or how quickly it would happen.

But in a letter to parents made public Friday, Royal Palm Beach High Principal Michelle Fleming said the stop will be moved "out of respect for the victims and families of Tuesday’s devastating vehicle accident, and in an effort to be sensitive to all students utilizing that stop."

Cars drive by a memorial Thursday for Tiana Johnson, 15, one of four children hit by a car as they waited for their school bus at the corner of Crestwood Boulevard and Cypress Lake Drive in Royal Palm Beach.
Cars drive by a memorial Thursday for Tiana Johnson, 15, one of four children hit by a car as they waited for their school bus at the corner of Crestwood Boulevard and Cypress Lake Drive in Royal Palm Beach.

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At the bus stop, a memorial for Tiana Johnson, the 15-year-old Royal Palm Beach resident who died from her injuries Wednesday morning, is flourishing. Classmates, friends and parents — many of them in tears — have dropped off pictures, cards, flowers and stuffed animals.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has identified three other Royal Palm Beach High students injured in the crash:

  • Chand Wazir, 15, who remained in critical condition Friday at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach;

  • Khoi Phan, 17, who was in serious condition at St. Mary's;

  • Rondell Lawrence, 16, who was in serious condition at Palms West Hospital in Loxahatchee, one half-mile southwest of the crash site.

A vigil is planned at the site at 6:30 p.m. Saturday to honor Johnson and show support for Wazir, Phan and Lawrence.

Johnson's death is the first reported fatality at the intersection since February of last year, according to Palm Beach County's engineer, but there have been eight crashes at the location since then.

County staff is conducting a safety review of the intersection, County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay, whose district includes Royal Palm Beach, said Friday.

The crash site sits after a bend in Crestwood as it wends north of Southern Boulevard. The posted speed limit is 40 mph, and there is no traffic signal at Cypress Lakes. Some residents have expressed concern that the area needs more streetlights.

McKinlay said the safety review must happen before the county can install a traffic signal in the area. She asked for patience while this work occurs, and while the sheriff's office investigates what caused the crash.

"This accident is tragic. These families want answers," McKinlay said. "They deserve them."

Sheriff's officials said an Alfa Romeo SUV headed northbound on Crestwood struck the students just before 7 a.m. Tuesday, about 30 minutes before sunrise. The agency's report did not say how fast the SUV was traveling when it jumped the curb and ran into the students waiting at the stop.

​Deputies have identified the SUV's driver as Angel Antonio Lopez, who has not been charged with a crime. The 57-year-old Royal Palm Beach resident declined medical treatment for minor injuries he sustained, according to the sheriff's office, which is awaiting the results of toxicology tests Lopez took after the crash. A call Friday to a telephone number linked to him went to voicemail.

The school board held a moment of silence before its meeting Wednesday at the request of board member Marcia Andrews, who represents the Royal Palm Beach area. Andrews has been at the bus stop every on recent mornings to be with students, and to assess conditions in the area.

The students, she said at the school board meeting, "were doing the right thing, coming to school. Doing what they should be doing, getting ready to get their education. I want to say to the families: Our hearts and our prayers go out to you."

vpalm@pbpost.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Royal Palm Beach High student's death in wreck prompts bus stop move