Medical Weight Loss in New York, NJ

A New Jersey school bus aide has been convicted of child endangerment in the death of a 6-year-old disabled girl who was choked by the body harness strapping her into a wheelchair, authorities said Tuesday.

Amanda Davila had also been accused of aggravated manslaughter in the July 17, 2023 death of Fajr Williams. She faces up to 10 years in prison on the endangerment conviction.

Earlier this month, Davila took the stand in her own defense on the same day the jury saw video showing what occurred leading up to the child's death — and as prosecutors alleged the woman was on her phone the whole time.

The video played in court was so painful to watch for the victim's family, her father had to leave the courtroom while jurors watched little Fajr struggling to breathe.

That was the start of the third week of summer programs for Fajr, whose 14-year-old sister put her on the bus that morning. As the bus was on its route, a series of bumps in the road caused Fajr to slump in her wheelchair — causing the four-point harness which secured her to the chair to tighten around her neck, preventing her from breathing, prosecutors have said previously.

Davila could be seen on the video sitting in the seat in front of Fajr, with her head down and on her phone, headphones in, for nearly the entire 30-minute trip to school.

By the time the bus arrived, Fajr was unresponsive. Officers who responded to the 911 call performed CPR. She was rushed to a nearby hospital's intensive care unit, where she was pronounced dead.

"I made a mistake but you guys are trying to put me away for 10 to 20 years, on a mistake," Davila said during her testimony.

Davila was seen on the video securing the wheelchair to the floor of the bus, though she testified since day one of Fajr taking the bus, one of the four hooks had not been working, and that there was no shoulder strap for the wheelchair.

"The bus I was on didn't have it," she said of the strap.

She later changed her story, saying the strap didn't fit. When being questioned by her attorney, Davila said she was "never trained to properly put the wheelchair in and strap it."

But prosecutors produced evidence of monthly training sessions. And despite bus company policy, records showed Davila sent 34 text messages and had been on Instagram and Apple Music when she should have been watching the three special needs children on the bus from the back.

When asked why she wasn't seated in the back, Davila said she didn't know, she "wasn't thinking."

Davila’s lawyer called the case a horrible tragedy, and that his client shared responsibility with Fajr’s sister and mother, who he claimed should have made sure that the young girl was strapped in properly.

"She had one job. She didn’t do it and because she didn’t do it Fajr Williams is dead," said Assistant Somerset County Prosecutor Michael McLaughlin.

'New York owes New Jersey answers': Josh Gottheimer talks congestion pricing taxes

NJ Congressman, gubernatorial candidate, Gottheimer says he doesn't want to hit any more hard-working families with more taxes but says something has to be done about congestion pricing.

The Brief

New York City rolled out congestion pricing less than two weeks ago – and while preliminary data released by the MTA showed modest traffic reductions in its first week, it nonetheless remains controversial.

What is ‘reverse congestion pricing’?

The backstory:

Last week, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop floated the idea of a ‘reverse congestion pricing’ toll.

"New Jersey has the same opportunity to push the buttons that New York is pushing against us," Fulop said. "We could do that to them, but the goal is to get to a table to have a reasonable solution."

What they're saying:

However, not everyone is on board, such as Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, NJ-5. He shared his thoughts Friday on

"No, I want people to come to Jersey," he said. "Right, so, I don't want to hit any hard-working families with more taxes. I want lower taxes, lower costs for people. We got to make life more affordable for people."

Big picture view:

Meanwhile, Fulop believes reverse congestion pricing is the answer to New York City's new toll.

"There's plenty of crossings between Staten Island, New York, Bergen County, Hudson County into New Jersey," Fulop said. "There's plenty of opportunities to have the same sort of impact fee that New York is putting on New Jersey."

The idea is the money will go to fund New Jersey’s mass transit system, plagued by delays and cancelations.

"My view is that New Jersey Transit is a terrible product, and it should be invested in more, and until you get a reliable transportation system in New Jersey, you can't responsibly think that people are going to take the trains," Fulop said. "But this was an opportunity to get hundreds of millions of dollars into New Jersey Transit, and I think the governor just took a very easy political approach."

What we don't know:

The details have yet to be flushed out, but Fulop says gantries or toll sites could be stationed outside of tunnels and bridges in New Jersey. Like congestion pricing, there may be exemptions or crossing credits.

It’s unclear if, like congestion pricing, New Jerseyans would pay the toll to reenter their home state like some New Yorkers do.

The other side:

reached out to the MTA and transit advocacy groups to gauge their interest, but they declined to comment. We also reached out to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to get his take, but haven't heard back.

Congestion pricing is an electronic tolling system that charges vehicles for entering Manhattan's Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ) — the area below 60th Street, excluding certain highways like the FDR Drive and West Side Highway. The program aims to:

Peak hours (5 a.m. – 9 p.m. weekdays l 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. weekends)

Off-peak hours (9 p.m. – 5 a.m. weekdays l 9 p.m. – 9 a.m. weekends)

Toll rates drop by 75%:

A New Jersey school bus aide charged in the 2023 death of a special-needs girl who was strangled by her own wheelchair harness was found not guilty of the most serious charges Monday after her defense lawyer tried to lay blame on the victim’s family.

A jury acquitted Amanda Davila of aggravated manslaughter and reckless manslaughter but convicted her of endangering the welfare of a child more than a year after Fajr Atiya Williams, 6, died on the way to Claremont Elementary School in Somerville for an extended school year program.

“I still don’t have my child. She’s gone forever,” the victim’s mother Najmah Nash said following the trial, according to CBS 2 NY.

“I don’t think it was fair. Do I think that the prosecution did a good job? Yes.”

Davila was accused of ignoring the helpless, non-verbal child who was in the back of the bus on July 17, 2023 as the girl “struggled violently for her life,” authorities said at the time.

The worker was looking at her cell phone with her earbuds in for nearly 20 minutes while the victim was slowly strangled after the bus went over some bumps, tightening the harness around Williams’ neck, according to prosecutors.

But defense lawyer Michael Policastro argued during the trial that the child’s family did not properly put the girl in the wheelchair.

“It’s the parent’s responsibility to buckle the top and bottom parts. The parents — I guess she delegated to her 14-year-old daughter that day — did put the top part,” he said following the split verdict, according to the station.

“She didn’t put the bottom, and that’s why the little girl slipped. If that bottom harness was fastened, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Nash hit back that Davila didn’t do her job by not checking on her daughter, who had a rare chromosome disability called Emanuel syndrome.

“We did our job. We got my baby to the bus,” she reportedly said. “She was strapped in, and that’s a fact. So, any description, or any disbelief in that, is shame on you.”

The bus monitor took the stand in her own defense and admitted she should have done more.

“I made a mistake. You guys are trying to put me in jail for 10-20 years on a mistake,” she said, according to ABC 7 NY.

“I’m partially to blame but there’s other people to blame too, not just me.”

She could be hit with at least five years in prison when she’s sentenced in March.

A fighter on and off the court, a New Jersey high school basketball star is battling more than just his opponents — and continues to defy the odds.

In 2024, Ridgewood High School senior Johnny Jackson was diagnosed with cancer. Many people thought the news would sideline him for the season. But he has simply refused to back down or let cancer shape his world.

"This chemotherapy, it's really vicious, I have nerve pain all over my body right now," Jackson told NBC New York. "It's just so brutal, it'll knock me out for a few days."

The 18-year-old star for the Ridgewood Maroons has endured double digit chemotherapy treatments for stage 4B Hodgkin's Lymphoma since summer 2024.

"Been a lot of health struggles, there's been a lot of ups and down, but just making it this far to this point, it just feels great to be here right now," Jackson said.

"This is the one thing that means the world to him, is playing basketball. Cancer took a lot from him but it's not going to take this," said his mother, Lynsey Jackson.

His sister shared a similar sentiment, saying her brother "truly has a different mindset compared to everyone else."

As a junior last season, Jackson played the entire year at 50%. He still averaged 22 points per game. But his weight dropped from 170 pounds down to 152.

His dad, Joe, and mom were searching for answers. In July, they finally got one: Their son was diagnosed with cancer. He started treatment in August.

"I'm a competitor...so I kind of just faced it like a game, and I was kind of up for the challenge from day 1. I knew I was going to take it down," said Jackson.

Ten chemo session ensued from Aug. 12 to Dec. 19, the night of Ridgewood's season opener. Jackson vowed to play — it was his goal, it was his dream.

And he delivered. Jackson scored 30 points in a victory over St. Joe's of Montvale.

When asked how he went from a chemo session on Monday, to dropping 30 just three days later, Jackson said he didn't have an answer.

"I just went out there and did it," he said.

The story has been embraced by the entire Ridgewood community. His coach and teammates have been in awe of his strength and nobility. His coach, Mike Troy, called it "an individual story that people wouldn't believe if it was in a movie."

This season, Jackson has been a profile in heart, courage and inspiration has been averaging 25 points per game. He hopes to soon be cancer-free.

"I'm just going to try to inspire as many kids as possible and honestly just put it in the past as quick as I can because it's been a very troublesome journey," he said.

On Monday, Jackson had his 12th and final chemotherapy treatment at the Joseph Sanzari Children's Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center. A celebration ensued moments later, as his entire basketball team and family surprised him in the hallway of the hospital — with hugs and kisses, smiles and tears, and plenty of gratitude.

Jackson must still get a PET scan in mid-February before he can be declared officially cancer-free. Until then, he will continue his pursuit of 2,000 career points. As of Monday, he was 285 points away.

The team is still chasing a state championship. The Maroons won nine of their first 10 games, and were one of the best teams in New Jersey.

FLIGHT TURBULENCE

The lawmakers emphasized that U.S. airlines’ suspended flights have given El Al ‘a monopoly on direct flights’ creating ‘burdensome price increases for our constituents’

SHARE

A bipartisan group of lawmakers representing the New York and New Jersey areas urged the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration on Monday to expedite consideration of any applications from Israeli airlines to begin flights between Tel Aviv and JFK or Newark Liberty airports, as U.S. carriers have kept their flights suspended.

“While our strong preference would be for U.S. carriers to resume their service from the greater New York City area airports that serve our districts, unfortunately, these airlines continue to extend suspensions of their service to TLV,” the lawmakers said. “In the absence of U.S. carriers flying this critical route for our constituents, we strongly support additional Israeli carriers providing service between these two deeply connected communities to provide competition and lower customer prices.”

The lawmakers noted that recent reports indicate that Israeli carriers including Tech-Air, Israir and Arkia have announced plans to seek to establish service between the New York/New Jersey area and Tel Aviv, and urged the transportation regulators to provide expedited consideration of any such applications.

They said that Israeli national airline El Al currently “enjoys a monopoly on direct flights” between the U.S. and Israel which “has led to burdensome price increases for our constituents wishing to visit or welcome family and friends during this difficult time in Israel.”

They cited reports showing that tickets on El Al regularly cost more than $1,000 since Oct. 7, sometimes costing $3,600 for an economy-class ticket.

“We believe that there must be competition between airlines in the greater New York City area and the Tel Aviv market in order to ensure American consumers and their loved ones are not price gouged in this time of war,” the lawmakers wrote. “Crucial to that effort is your expedited consideration of any application that may come before you from an Israeli airline, especially for low-cost direct service between the greater New York area and Tel Aviv.”

“Ensuring that such service is able to begin swiftly will provide a much-needed additional link between our communities and Israel, when such a connection is more critical than ever to many of our constituents,” they continued.

The letter was led by Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Mike Lawler (R-NY), joined by Reps. Greg Meeks (D-NY), Nick LaLota (R-NY), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Nellie Pou (D-NJ), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), George Latimer (D-NY), Grace Meng (D-NY), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and Rob Menendez (D-NJ).

U.S. airlines’ long-running suspension of flights to Israel has been attracting growing federal attention. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, recently urged U.S. airlines to resume flights and suggested that the continued suspension may be a “politically motivated boycott.”