Boy killed by school bus : Brenden Houston memorial account established

The death of a six-year-old boy has left a Shreveport suburban community in shock, and now, residents have set up a roadside memorial at the site where he was tragically killed.

Brendan Houston, a first-grade student Herndon Magnet School, was dropped off at his bus stop after school last Thursday. Houston stepped off the bus to realize that his shoelaces were tied together, and when he crouched down to fix them, the school bus driver Debra Stevens didn’t see him on the ground and accidentally ran him over.

“He was a kid who liked to play, and he smiled a lot, and he was really fun to play with,” says Micah Heflin, one of Brenden’s friends.

“He was a nice and kind boy,” says Trinity Deprez, who was on the bus the day Brenden was hit and killed.

His grandfather, Randy Riley is an associate pastor at Trinity Heights Baptist Chruch.

He says many will miss Brenden’s smile.

“His smile would light up a room, beautiful eyes, loved his family, loved life,” says Riley.

“I’ll miss his smile, and how he talks and all that, and I wish he could just come back here,” says Heflin.

But since Brenden can’t come back, his grandfather has this bit of advice for everyone: “You need to hug your kids more often, hug your grandkids more often, and love them while you can, because we never knew the day that he left for school, when he was going to come back, we’d never get to hug him again.”

The bus driver involved in the accident, Debra K Stevens, is on administrative leave until the investigation is complete.

Brenden’s mother, Jennifer Houston, says she does not hold any animosity towards Stevens. She and other family members understand it was an accident.

Agencies/Canadajournal