The mother of a 15-year-old Tucson High School student who was struck and killed by a school bus Sept. 12 has filed a $15 million claim against the Amphitheater Public Schools district.
The claim asserts Kevin Robinson-Barajas was riding "squarely" in the North Mountain Avenue bike path when he was hit by a bus being driven by Steven Vecchiarelli, who was trying to make a right turn onto East Fort Lowell Road.
Vecchiarelli's 2009 International school bus was outfitted with 11 mirrors and "properly driven, the bus driver has no blind spots that present a danger to other motorists, bike riders or pedestrians," attorney Dev Sethi wrote in the claim letter.
A claim letter must be filed before a lawsuit can be filed.
If the school district does not agree to pay Graciela Barajas and the boy's estate the $15 million within 60 days, a lawsuit can then be filed.
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Todd Jaeger, legal counsel for the district, said the district has hired outside attorney Carl Hazlett to represent the district. Hazlett did not return phone calls.
Tucson police Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said the Tucson City Attorney's Office announced Monday it would not be citing or charging Vecchiarelli in connection with the crash.
According to the claim letter, Robinson-Barajas was riding a brand-new mountain bike to Tucson High School when the crash occurred shortly before 7 a.m.
The boy was caught under the bus's right rear wheel and killed instantly, Sethi wrote.
"His injuries were so severe and obviously fatal that no amount of street bike protective gear could have made any difference," Sethi wrote.
Police said at the time the boy wasn't wearing a helmet.
The boy is survived by his mother, who works at the University of Arizona's Flandrau Science Center; his father, Kim Robinson, an attorney in Carson City, Nev.; and a half-brother, Daniel Barajas, a UA student.
Robinson-Barajas, who was interested in becoming a doctor, engineer or teacher, was a member of the Tucson Unified School District's Gifted and Talented Education program, according to the claim letter.
He participated in the UA's summer engineering camp and volunteered at the Flandrau Science Center and the Tucson Volunteer Center. The guitar-playing skateboarder also participated in the Mountain View Neighborhood Association's beautification projects.
The claim was filed so quickly after he died because Arizona's legislators have created laws to discourage claims from being filed against government agencies, Sethi said.
"There are very short deadlines that people have to meet, and those laws are tricky and they have traps for the unwary," Sethi said.
The crash was an "unimaginable tragedy" for the Barajas family and everyone involved, Sethi said.
"Because of the magnitude of their loss and the results of our investigation, we thought it important to put the defendants on notice of this claim early so that this process can begin," Sethi said.
At the time of the crash, Tucson police said there were five children, ages 8 and 9, on the bus, which was headed for Holaway Elementary School, 3500 N. Cherry Ave.
At the time of the crash, Jaeger said, Vecchiarelli had been a bus driver with the district for a little under a year, and he had not had any traffic accidents. He was placed on paid administrative leave, Jaeger said.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com.
