School bus driver cited nearly four months after fatally hitting three-year-old in Cary

The school bus driver who struck and killed a three-year-old from Cary in May was cited Monday for two petty offenses, officials said.

Koleen Janquart, 60, of Crystal Lake, was cited for failing to exercise due care to avoid a collision with a pedestrian and failing to reduce speed to avoid a crash, according to a news release Monday from the Cary Police Department.

Both citations are considered petty offenses, meaning they do not include any form of imprisonment, the release states.

At the time of the crash, Janquart was a bus driver for Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47 and Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155, which share transportation services.

About 3:30 p.m. May 16, Janquart was driving a bus through a Cary neighborhood when her bus struck and killed Samuel Huddleston, a three-year-old from Cary.

Police and the Cary Fire Protection District were called to the area of Cherry and Hill streets around 3:39 p.m.

Huddleston was pronounced dead at the site of the crash. Neither Janquart nor the lone student she was driving at the time were injured in the crash.

The crash occurred after Huddleston had been playing in the street, officials said at the time. Janquart turned off of Cherry Street onto Hill Street going north, and hit Huddleston about 100 feet north of the intersection.

An autopsy report done a couple days after the crash showed Huddleston had died from multiple blunt force injuries.

Huddleston was described as “a little light of sunshine” who had the “biggest smile but also the best grumpy face” in an obituary posted on the Davenport Family Funeral Homes and Crematory website.

He enjoyed fishing, camping and hunting Big Foot in the woods, and playing at the park, the obituary states.

Huddleston had five siblings, including four older brothers and a younger sister. He was also survived by his mother and father, along with extended family.

The investigation into the crash is considered closed, officials said. The McHenry County Major Crash Assistance Team helped investigate the crash.