Tragedy in Florala - Eight Year Old Dies when Run Over by School Bus

An 8-year-old honor student at W.S. Harlan Elementary School was accidentally run over and killed by a school bus Thursday.

Florala police chief Sonny Bedsole said the accident occurred at approximately 3:15 p.m. on Wood Avenue, near the Florala Villa’s apartment complex.

“There was a group of about seven or eight kids that got off the bus at that stop,” Bedsole said.“The victim, along with the group, walked in front of the school bus, but apparently she was slow crossing the street. The bus driver pulled forward and didn’t see the child, and she was run over and killed.”

Bedsole said the students outside the bus yelled for the driver to stop.

“He was totally unaware he had run over the girl,” he said.

Reports indicate the child was identified as Lexi Worrell, a third grader at WSH.

“We know that she had some kind of medical condition with her hip or back, and she was a very slight child, which may have something to do with the accident,” Bedsole said.

The identity of the bus driver was not released, and the accident remains under investigation by the Alabama State Troopers traffic homicide division.

I went to Florala today and talked to some of the family and friends of Dennis Worrells. My prayers are out for everyone involved but I was told today that the man that killed this young child was 70 years old. He had a heart attack last year and has been in trouble many times for speeding while driving the school bus. Plus there was other complaints too. I think there needs to be better rules when it comes to people who can drive our kids to and from school. If he pulled off that fast before she could get by the front of the bus what was he thinking. I guess our kids are not safe anywhere anymore. Why did he not look and listen before pulling off. All the kids and other people watching while that little girl got run over and the driver of the bus did not even know that he did it. Everyone was yelling for him to stop. There was kids still in the road yelling at him. I think that this needs to be handle by someone else besides the Florala Police Department because it will not be fair. The school board members would not even walk in the yard of the Worrells to say that they were sorry. They stood in the road. Dennis and his family had to stand there in their yard and the big dogs of Florala could not even treat them with RESPECT! I could go on and on about this but I will rest for now. Please pray for the family....

The child was on the right bus! The accident happen in front of her house and in front of her mother who was waiting for her. The bus should of had the long arm in front that keeps the child in the view of the bus driver. Why doesn't Alabama school bus have one? State of Florida requires it. The child does rides different buses because of who can get her off the bus each day. I know this for a fact, she is related to me. This is a terrible tragedy and should of never happen. The was handicapped and the bus driver told the father a couple of days before that he would make sure she got off in front of her house just because of her handicapped condition. Have anyone every heard of an angel on earth? She was truly one sent from God. The pain of losing is felt in this whole community. No ones can describe the lost.

The child was on the right bus. She was killed a couple hundred feet from her home. I pray for Tracy, Dennis, Christine and All her family as they wake up to this nightmare. This is something the bus driver will have to live with for the rest of his/her life, and I wouldn't wish that for anyone ,but my Heart and thoughts go to Lexi's family as they make the arrangements to say goodbye to their pride and joy.

first want to say I am prayin for these parents and all that is involved in this tragedy. But I do have a problem with this as I am a former school bus driver for over 18 years. It is part of his job and the most important part to make sure every child wheather it is one or 15 at a time when they get off the bus that the bus does not move till every child is counted and he knows where every child is at. He is to make sure each child is at least 15 ft away from the roadway before moving the bus. So this is part of his oath he takes when he does his schooling to get certified to be a certified bus driver. This is the reason they stress make sure you know where every child is at and never let a child walk behind a bus. You keep the child or children in your veiw at all times to make sure they are clear of any danger before you proceed moving. I know this will burden his mind for the rest of his life and be very hard for him to live with but he did not do as he should have to insure safety of these children. And this mistake cost a precious child her life. I can't imagine the heartache the parents are enduring right now. I am sorry if you don't like what I have said but it is the plain truth that has cost a innocent child her life. And all I can tell you think how Dennis and Tracy are feeling right now from this horrible mistake. Ask yourself what if she was your baby? God please hold these families in your arms and nouirsh them.

@ shilohgirl! I understand where you coming from! However the problem is....Is that the innocent child got on the wrong bus! From my understanding I thought the teachers at the Elementray school where to assit the kids on the right bus!

Unknown334 what difference does it make if the child got on the wrong bus? Does it mean that they are less important and shouldn't be given the same care as the other students. I feel for this bus driver, a child is dead! Please people don't point the finger, pray for the family, pray for the bus driver. Lets pull together and stop the hurt that this had caused in our community.

It does not matter if she was on the wrong bus or not, the drive seen that she got off and could tell that she was slower then the regualr walkers. How could she be on the wrong bus if her mother was there watching all of this while it happened. It happened there close to the little girls house. I hate that this happened to the bus driver but the fact is that if he would have been paying attention and waited til he seen all the kids on the side of the road, a little girl would be with her parents today and not at the funeral home.

To say the pain is felt is to put mildly how our whole community is feeling. The parents that hugged their children grateful they came home alive crying heart and soul for the one that did not.Lexi was my daughters best friend. She was truly one of a kind and the world is a little less without her light to shine. Praying for the bus driver and family that GOd gives them strength to face what has been done. Mercy for him when time is through. Prays for lexi's family and friends that we all heal to live with a grief that never goes away

i think that if all the children on the buses would not be yelling but wispring that he would of heared the children screaming outside of the bus for him to stop and wait. most of the reason he payed no mind to the kids telling him to stop that were on the bus was because he never knows if they are yelling at him or another student it gets confusing sometimes. im not saying im on the bus drivers side but it is possible i feel bad that a child got hurt. i knew her like a baby sister and she as my baby sisters best friend. please pray for both bus driver and family of the lost one and the communite.

This child was Not on the wrong bus. I agree that children on a bus need to quite down so the bus driver can hear, but if the driver could see and count children then why did this happen? A mistake that he has to live with? Whats a mistake to live with compaired to her family that will live with out the joy of a child. I hope this is investagated to the fullest, and that the community will take a stand out of respect for this family.

This little girl is not at fault..she was not on the wrong bus. She died because of the negligence of the bus driver & the negligence of the school district for allowing this man to still be driving a school bus at his age. Apparently there had been numerous complaints about him but nothing was done. Maybe if they had taken action, my cousin Tracey & her husband Dennis would still have their sweet daughter Lexi.

Florala mourns the loss of one of its young citizens in today's school bus tragedy. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family whose pain is horrific, the students on the bus who were traumatized, and the anguish-filled bus driver.Funeral Services for Lexi Worrell are slated for 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon (April 11) in the W. S. Harlan Elementary School Gymnasium

I think it is really sad that someone would say that it is Lexi's fault. Are you crazy. I know that the bus driver did not mean it but it happened and this family lost their angel. He should have waited longer and since she was slower to get off the bus, he should have made it a point to be looking just for her. If she needed help he should have helped her. No, he did not mean to do it but if he would have paid attention to her more than she would have been ok. There is nothing that anyone can say to this family to make them feel better, they have lost a child. Put yourself in their place. I have a five year old and if something like this happened to me... I really do not know what I would do.

well okay she did get on the right bus to all the people that say she didn't. she lives right down the road from me and mr. wilson is the only bus that comes this way. he is a bad driver. he has had a heart attack, shut students in the door, and turns around while driving yelling at kids. its not cool. if your a bus driver you should be careful and pay attention to whom is getting on and off the bus. my mom pretty much crys of herself to sleep because she seen her in the road. he shouldn't be a driver anymore POINT BLANK.

It will be at least the beginning of the next school year before the bus driver that was involved in last week's death of an 8-year-old Florala girl can return to work. The case must go in front of the Covington County Grand Jury before any determination can be made.

I went to Florala and I went by where the accident happened and then the cemetery. It was so sad. I have lived there off and on all my life and I have known the Worrells all my life. I feel for the family. They come out of their front door, they see where their angel lost her life, they go out the back and there is where she is laid to rest. I just do not know what I would do if something like that happened to my son. Things like this makes you think... do not take anything for granted. Make every minute special. Still praying for the family,

I have lived in FLORALA all my life.and I am still in shock at the people of this little one-horse town;and you call yourselves Christains.I recall about five years ago,this same tragedy happened to a little boy on the Opp highway only differences was that it did not involve a schoolbus,this little boy was killed by a drughead who was high at the time of the accident.You didn't hear anything about this from you so called CHRISTIANS.Now I know that this was truely a horrible accident and it could have been preventable;but when its your time to die nothing can stop it. My heart goes out to the Worrells family and the family of the busdriver.We as a community need to keep our thoughts and actions to ourselves and join in together to help all parties that are involved in this horrible tragedy to move on

Friend wrote:

<quoted text>
I HAVE HERE ALL MY LIFE AND I STILL REMEMBER THE LITTLE BOY THAT GOT HIT, BUT AS TIME BETWEEN THE INTERNET AND MORE PEOPLE LEARNING HOW TO USE IT AND ALL, NEWS TRAVELS FASTER AND IT IS TALKED ABOUT MORE. NO ONE FEELS WORSE THEN THEY DID THEN. I WENT BY WHERE THAT LITTLE ANGEL WAS KILLED AND TO THE CEMETERY. BUT AT THIS MOMENT I FEEL FOR THE WORRELL FAMILY... THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST WEEK AND THEY ARE TRYING TO COPE WITH THIS....

I agree with "friend"! well said! To be a christian is not to judge!