Family of girl killed at bus stop shares sorrow as driver pleads guilty

Those who packed the courtroom reeled as graphic footage from the school bus showed the moment when the elementary school student was struck by the vehicle and thrown about 50 feet back from the impact.

During the emotional hearing, Addy’s family tearfully shared victim statements.

“My baby will never return,” Ashley Pierce, Addy’s mother, said on the stand. “I chose to forgive Kaylee for her actions that stole Adalynn from me. … However, my forgiveness does not negate the profound consequences.”

Andre, who was 25 at the time, drove along Jackson Lake Road that morning and passed the bus’ blinking stop sign without braking, according to the prosecutor.

The incident happened around 6:40 a.m., a dark and cold morning in McDonough. District Attorney Brittany Forester said Andre told troopers at the scene that her windshield had frosted over and she could not see.

Video footage played in court from the bus showed the moment the girl was hit. Seconds before impact, the bus driver blared the horn. Andre’s car did not stop, nor did she slow down or hit the brakes before impact, the prosecutor said.

“Not only was this tragedy witnessed by Addy’s own family,” Forester said. “It was witnessed by the bus driver, as well as a school bus full of elementary school-aged children.”

The force of the impact launched Addy out of her high-top sneakers, which landed on the roadway. Her blue beaded bracelet also flew off her wrist and Addy, wearing a light blue puffy coat, was thrown roughly 50 feet, past the entire length of the school bus and onto the grass, according to images shown in court.

Her mother and some of Addy’s sisters had been waiting in the driveway for the girl to get on the bus and witnessed the crash.

“Losing my little sister has been, and I believe will be, the hardest thing of my life,” said 16-year-old Braelyn Pierce, Addy’s older sister. “I’ll never forget being in her hospital room, so confused, hurt and angry, begging God to wake her up while holding her swollen, lifeless hand.”

First responders performed CPR and Addy was flown to a hospital, but she never regained consciousness, according to the prosecutor. Doctors at a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta hospital determined the impact severed Addy’s brain stem, her mother testified. The family donated her organs so other children could live, she said, and in a way, so Addy could live on, too.

Addy’s sisters started a petition to change state law around school bus stop safety, Ashley Pierce said. Through the family’s work, new safety legislation was signed into law just months later by Gov. Brian Kemp. House Bill 409, also known as Addy’s Law, requires Georgia schools to plan safer bus routes, increases penalties for drivers who pass a stopped school bus and directs schools to avoid bus routes with stops that require a child to cross a road where the speed limit is 40 mph or more.

Andre also cried in the courtroom, often holding her face with her hands, and sobbed through her apology to Addy’s family.

“I pray every day that I could take it all back,” Andre said. “I pray and think about your family every day. … I pray for healing in your family.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the total length of Kaylee Andre’s sentence.