Arrest Report: CCSD Bus Aide Appeared Unaware for 19 Minutes Before a Child Fell From a Moving Bus

A Clark County School District bus aide was arrested after a child fell out of the rear door of a moving school bus on Oct. 19, according to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrest report reported by FOX5. Investigators received about 19 minutes of bus video from that day, along with photographs of the child's injuries and a medical report. An officer's summary of the video says the aide, seated on the driver's side two seats from the rear, appeared to be sleeping or unaware of her surroundings while the child removed himself from his restraint and crawled under the seats toward the back of the bus.

The report says the child sat behind the last passenger-side seat for several minutes while the bus traveled on a freeway at speeds above 67 mph. As the bus slowed near the intersection of Tenaya Way and Alexander Road, the child stood at the rear emergency door and opened it; an alarm sounded, the bus accelerated to about 11 mph, and the child fell out. Officers wrote that the aide appeared unaware of what was happening inside the bus for about 19 minutes, until the alarm sounded and the child fell. The extent of the child's injuries has not been made public.

Police identified the aide as Carmen Nicole Morris, 42, a special education transportation aide who has worked for the district since February 2013. Officers interviewed her on Oct. 20 at a Henderson bus yard after advising her of her rights; she denied being asleep and said she experiences motion sickness, according to the report. She was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on a felony charge of child abuse, neglect or endangerment, appeared in Las Vegas Justice Court on Oct. 26 with a public defender assigned, and is due back for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 8, 2027. CCSD has placed her on leave without pay while the case proceeds. The charge is an allegation, and Morris is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.