Teacher Killed in NJ School Bus Crash to Be Laid to Rest

May 24, 2018, 5:46 am

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The teacher killed in a school bus crash last week in New Jersey will be laid to rest Thursday, one week after the horrific wreck that claimed her life. 

The funeral for 51-year-old Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy will be held at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Visitation R.C. Church in Paramus. 

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Williamson-Kennedy was a teacher at East Brook Middle School in Paramus. She died during a class trip to Waterloo Village when the bus she was riding in smashed into a dump truck on I-80 near exit 25 in Mount Olive. Her obituary notes she "taught in the same grade and same classroom in East Brook Middle School for 20 years."

Williamson-Kennedy's husband, Kevin, said he's "in shock, devastated and totally crushed" by the tragedy.

Kennedy said "my beautiful bride and I have been in total love every day of our lives since the day our eyes met on May 5th, 1994."

Investigators are still probing the cause of the crash, which also killed a 10-year-old student. Video from a Department of Transportation camera shows the school bus filled with fifth-graders making a sudden U-turn in a median, sources have told News 4.

The bus was carrying 38 students and seven adults at the time of the wreck. Everyone else on board was injured, some critically.

The school bus driver, Hudy Muldrow Sr., had a total of 14 license suspensions, eight speeding tickets, a careless driving ticket and a ticket for an improper turn in 2010, a spokeswoman for the Motor Vehicle Commission told News 4. The most recent suspension was from Dec. 20 of last year to Jan. 3 of this year for unpaid parking tickets.

Muldrow had a commercial driver's license issued in 2012 and got the school bus endorsement on his commercial driver's license in 2013, the MVC said. Muldrow remains in the hospital and was unavailable for comment. 

Paramus Schools Superintendent Dr. Michele Robinson said the district had no idea of the 77-year-old driver's lengthy history of license suspensions and moving violations.

"I am shocked, saddened and angry to read news reports concerning the school bus driver's driving record. Nothing that was provided to the district by the state reflected that the driver had any moving violations. In fact, all we were told is that he was a driver in good standing and eligible to operate a school bus.

"If these news reports are true, our community and our children deserved better than to receive incomplete information about his record," Robinson said in a statement to News 4.

Meanwhile, the lawyer representing the family of 10-year-old Miranda Vargas, who was laid to rest Monday, sent a notice of tort claim to the Borough of Paramus and the Paramus school board Tuesday, indicating the family plans to sue. The lawyer is questioning whether the Paramus Board of Education did proper diligence in hiring a driver with his record. 

Photo Credit: Christopher Thiele / Provided to News 4

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May 24, 2018, 7:24 am

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May 24, 2018, 6:22 am

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NJ Schools Chief 'Shocked,' 'Angry' Over Bus Driver's Record

May 24, 2018, 5:39 am

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The superintendent of the New Jersey school district in which a bus driver taking students and teachers on a field trip allegedly made a sudden U-turn on a highway median, colliding with a dump truck and killing two passengers, says the district had no idea of the 77-year-old driver's lengthy history of license suspensions and moving violations. 

Paramus Schools Superintendent Dr. Michele Robinson said in a statement to News 4 Wednesday, "I am shocked, saddened and angry to read news reports concerning the school bus driver's driving record. Nothing that was provided to the district by the state reflected that the driver had any moving violations. In fact, all we were told is that he was a driver in good standing and eligible to operate a school bus.

• Hundreds Mourn 5th-Grade Twin Killed in NJ School Bus Crash

"If these news reports are true, our community and our children deserved better than to receive incomplete information about his record," said Robinson.

The school bus driver, Hudy Muldrow Sr., had a total of 14 license suspensions, eight speeding tickets, a careless driving ticket and a ticket for an improper turn in 2010, a spokeswoman for the Motor Vehicle Commission told News 4 Tuesday. The most recent suspension was from Dec. 20 of last year to Jan. 3 of this year for unpaid parking tickets.

Muldrow had a commercial driver's license issued in 2012 and got the school bus endorsement on his commercial driver's license in 2013, the MVC said. 

Investigators are still probing the cause of the May 17 crash, which killed a 10-year-old student and a teacher after the full-size school bus collided with a dump truck on Route 80 near exit 25 in Mount Olive Township. Video from a Department of Transportation camera shows the school bus filled with fifth-graders making a sudden U-turn in a median, sources have told News 4.

The bus, which was carrying 38 students and seven adults from East Brook Middle School in Paramus, was heading to a class field trip to Waterloo Village, a historic site in Stanhope.

Muldrow remains in the hospital and was unavailable for comment. 

The Motor Vehicle Commission says that every entity that employs school bus drivers must keep up-to-date driver history abstracts for each driver But on the MVC website, the public only find information about mechanical inspections of buses -- there's no information about whether bus companies have accurate knowledge of their drivers' infraction history. 

The I-Team has asked the Motor Vehicle Commission if the Paramus School Board had ever been issued a violation for not keeping driver history abstracts; the agency did not answer by Wednesday afternoon. It also hasn't responded to whether the MVC is aware how many school districts statewide have been cited for failure to keep accurate driver history records. 

Parents in New Jersey want to change that and make bus drivers' records more accessible. Brian Wheelock and Gabrielle Wheeley know how difficult it is: they've been trying to get information about a substitute driver who became erratic on their kids' Parsippany route last year. 

"Based on my calls and my research into the matter, I couldn't find out anything on this driver, or there even was such a file," said Wheelock, estimating he spent 200 hours looking for the driver's record. 

"The bus company was completely unresponsive to us when we asked," said Wheeley. 

Meanwhile, the lawyer representing the family of 10-year-old Miranda Vargas, who was laid to rest Monday, sent a notice of tort claim to the Borough of Paramus and the Paramus school board Tuesday, indicating the family plans to sue. The lawyer is questioning whether the Paramus Board of Education did proper diligence in hiring a driver with his record. 

Funeral services for the teacher killed in the crash, Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy, will be held Thursday morning. 

Photo Credit: Christopher Thiele

Can DNA Collected by Genealogy Companies Be Used by Police?

May 24, 2018, 9:07 am

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Two high-profile homicide investigations on the West Coast, including an arrest of a suspect in the decades-old case of "The Golden State Killer," has put DNA collection by genealogy companies into the spotlight.

In both cases, investigators say those troves of DNA by private companies helped provide valuable evidence. 

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Could it be the beginning of a new era in crime-fighting? How easy can local police departments access the DNA that private citizens provide to track down their ancestry?

A retired FBI agent who worked for years in the Philadelphia field office of the bureau said any law enforcement access to a company's records requires a court order, like warrants for other more common searches.

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"A police department, or even the FBI, can't just pick up the phone and call Ancestry.com and say, 'Give me everything you've got on JJ Klaver,'" the former FBI agent, JJ Klaver, told NBC10.

At least one expert in privacy laws, however, is more skeptical.

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"It is a free-for-all right now," Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, said.

Dixon said one of the biggest concerns is the misconceptions people have about how protected DNA submissions to genealogy research companies are.

Still, those companies assure that they follow all the privacy laws currently in place.

An open-source DNA research company, GED Match, says it has recently updated its terms of service and privacy policy.

The well-known Ancestry.com said in a statement: "Ancestry advocates for its members’ privacy and will not share any information with law enforcement unless compelled to by valid legal process."

Yet another company, 23andMe, said in a statement that its privacy policy prohibits "the company from voluntarily working with law enforcement. 23andMe has never given customer information to law enforcement officials, and we do not share information with employers or insurance companies."

It's full privacy policy can be found here.

Like those three, FamilyTreeDNA said it does not disclose any of its customers' genetic information to a third party without express consent.

The exception, a company spokesman said in an email, is "in the case of a valid, legally binding court order."

And even then, FamilyTreeDNA "will disclose the absolute minimum amount of information necessary, so as to protect user privacy to the greatest degree possible in compliance with the subpoena," the spokesman said.

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May 24, 2018, 9:16 am

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Thursday morning, President Donald Trump canceled the planned nuclear summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Tremendous anger and open hostility were cited as reasons for the cancellation.

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May 24, 2018, 9:53 am

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A group of teens in Camden, New Jersey has a mission to help save animals. The Chow Hound House was created to do pop-up clinics for animals that never get the chance to get medical attention.

Tall Ships Sail Into Philadelphia

May 24, 2018, 11:23 am

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The Delaware River will play host to nearly a dozen international tall ships for the 2018 Sail Philadelphia Festival.

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Can DNA Collected by Genealogy Companies Be Used by Police?

May 24, 2018, 9:07 am

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Two high-profile homicide investigations on the West Coast, including an arrest of a suspect in the decades-old case of "The Golden State Killer," has put DNA collection by genealogy companies into the spotlight.

In both cases, investigators say those troves of DNA by private companies helped provide valuable evidence. 

• Search for Missing Malvern Mother Now Murder Investigation

Could it be the beginning of a new era in crime-fighting? How easy can local police departments access the DNA that private citizens provide to track down their ancestry?

A retired FBI agent who worked for years in the Philadelphia field office of the bureau said any law enforcement access to a company's records requires a court order, like warrants for other more common searches.

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"A police department, or even the FBI, can't just pick up the phone and call Ancestry.com and say, 'Give me everything you've got on JJ Klaver,'" the former FBI agent, JJ Klaver, told NBC10.

At least one expert in privacy laws, however, is more skeptical.

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"It is a free-for-all right now," Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, said.

Dixon said one of the biggest concerns is the misconceptions people have about how protected DNA submissions to genealogy research companies are.

Still, those companies assure that they follow all the privacy laws currently in place.

An open-source DNA research company, GED Match, says it has recently updated its terms of service and privacy policy.

The well-known Ancestry.com said in a statement: "Ancestry advocates for its members’ privacy and will not share any information with law enforcement unless compelled to by valid legal process."

Yet another company, 23andMe, said in a statement that its privacy policy prohibits "the company from voluntarily working with law enforcement. 23andMe has never given customer information to law enforcement officials, and we do not share information with employers or insurance companies."

It's full privacy policy can be found here.

Like those three, FamilyTreeDNA said it does not disclose any of its customers' genetic information to a third party without express consent.

The exception, a company spokesman said in an email, is "in the case of a valid, legally binding court order."

And even then, FamilyTreeDNA "will disclose the absolute minimum amount of information necessary, so as to protect user privacy to the greatest degree possible in compliance with the subpoena," the spokesman said.

Flipped Truck Blocks I-95 in South Philly

May 24, 2018, 11:16 am

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An overturned rental truck closed busy Interstate 95 Thursday afternoon.

The Penske truck flipped on I-95 north near Broad Street in South Philadelphia shortly before 1 p.m., Pennsylvania State Police said.

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All northbound lanes are closed as the truck wound up across all lanes approaching the Walt Whitman Bridge, police said. The force of the wreck tore most of the top of the truck off and caused debris to fall onto the roadway.

Police forced drivers off on Exit 19 (Packer Avenue/Walt Whitman Bridge). Expect delays in the area.

No word yet on possible injuries.

Photo Credit: SkyForce10

Lenny Dykstra Cites 'Shake It Off' After Uber Threat Charge

May 24, 2018, 11:12 am

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Former baseball star Lenny Dykstra put a gun to the head of an Uber driver when the driver declined to change the trip's destination, police said the driver told them Wednesday.

Dykstra was arrested early Wednesday outside Linden police headquarters after the driver stopped and ran out of the car. Police said they found cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among Dykstra's belongings but didn't find a weapon.

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The 55-year-old former All-Star is charged with making terroristic threats and drug offenses. He's been given a summons, was released and is due in court next month. It wasn't immediately known if Dykstra has a lawyer.

Dykstra took to Twitter to respond to the allegations by, among other things, citing lyrics from Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Kelly Clarkson.

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"But I keep cruising, can't stop, won't stop moving. It's like I got this music in my mind, sayin' gonna be alright," Dykstra tweeted, referencing the Swift hit "Shake It Off."

When one Twitter user suggested the encounter was the Uber driver's fault "for not respecting a legend," Dykstra responded, "I'm not sure yet that that's the defense with which we are going to go."

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Dykstra played 12 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets and won a World Series in 1986 with the Mets. He was named to the National League All-Star team three times.

Dykstra's life after baseball has been troubled. He has served prison time after pleading guilty to crimes including bankruptcy fraud, grand theft auto and money laundering, and he declared bankruptcy in 2009, claiming he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets.

Photo Credit: PROVIDED
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Police K-9 Finds Body in Pennypack Park

May 24, 2018, 11:30 am

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A badly decomposed body was found inside Northeast Philadelphia’s Pennypack Park Wednesday night.

Officers were called to an event stage in the woods of the park near Blakiston Street and Frankford Avenue around 6:30 p.m. for a possible body, police said.

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A K-9 cadaver dog then led police to the unidentified man’s body near the Welsh Road and Roland Avenue entrance around 9:10 p.m. It was unclear how long the body was in the park.

Homicide Unit detectives investigated the death. The medical examiner’s office would determine a cause of death, police said.

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NBC10 Responds: Western Union Paying Money Back to Fraud Victims

May 24, 2018, 2:28 pm

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If you've fallen victim to a scam, chances are you'll never see that money again. But, now some Western Union members may be eligible for a refund.

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May 24, 2018, 3:29 pm

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With Memorial Day Weekend just around the corner gas prices have skyrocketed in the area. NBC10's Steven Fisher explains ways you can save gas and money. 

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May 24, 2018, 4:06 pm

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Delaware Bartender Linda Marshall retires from the bar where she's worked for 46 years. Patrons say they will miss her.

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May 24, 2018, 4:23 pm

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Several Historic tall ships were brought to the port of Philadelphia to spend the summer. Some will even set sail on the Delaware River.

Traffic and Gas Prices Are Roadblocks This Memorial Day

May 25, 2018, 4:59 am

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As many people head down the shore for the holiday weekend, they'll run into traffic and higher gas prices, but it doesn't seem to be stopping the flood to the ocean points.

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May 24, 2018, 8:37 pm

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A family in Philadelphia is waiting for answers after an 11-year-old boy was struck and killed riding his bike crossing the street last week. No charges have been filed.

Special Needs Prom

May 24, 2018, 8:38 pm

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A very special prom organized by a Philadelphia police officer for children with special needs was star-studded Thursday evening.

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May 24, 2018, 3:22 pm

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While some head to the beach for Memorial Day weekend, a Bucks County teacher is making sure her students know the real meaning of the holiday.