Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Metro investigators find child injured in bus accident, siblings, had history of lack of supervision

Kimberly Delacruz, also known as Kimberly Marie Russi

Kimberly Delacruz, also known as Kimberly Marie Russi

Child welfare officials were well acquainted with a Las Vegas mother even before her arrest this week stemming from an incident in which her unsupervised 6-year-old son was hit by a school bus.

A Metro Police report released Thursday morning indicated the boy and his five siblings have been the “focus of extensive Child Protection Services (CPS) investigations.”

Kimberly Delacruz, also known as Kimberly Marie Russi, 31, was arrested Tuesday, a day after her son Josiah Delacruz was run over by a Clark County School District bus about 6:30 a.m. at North Las Vegas Boulevard and North Walnut Road. Delacruz is charged in North Las Vegas Justice Court with one count of child neglect or endangerment with substantial bodily harm.

Witnesses told investigators Josiah and his 7-year-old brother were at the bus stop and Josiah was “running in the street, throwing rocks at passing cars and was without adult supervision when the incident occurred.”

Metro said the boy’s injuries were so severe there was a high probability his right foot could require amputation.

Delacruz first told investigators she had walked her children three-quarters of the way to the bus stop Monday morning, then went back home to use the restroom. As she was changing clothes, she said, her 7-year-old son ran in to report his brother had been run over.

The 7-year-old corroborated much of what his mother told police, but an investigator suspected the boy had been coached about what to tell police. Josiah, interviewed at UMC, told police his mother “never” walks him and his brother to the bus stop; instead, Josiah said, his mother stays home to take care of his 2-year-old sister.

In a followup interview Tuesday, the police report said, Delacruz admitted she never walked her children to the bus stop, although she maintained she had walked behind them a portion of the way the previous day.

In their investigation, police also discovered the child welfare investigation into the family. Included in the arrest packet, Metro said, was 125 pages of CPS history related to Josiah and his siblings.

Delacruz, who made a court appearance today to hear the charge, remained in the Clark County Detention Center on $20,000 bail.

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