Emails show bus driver, monitor didn't properly strap in Cincinnati Public Schools student who died on bus

A school bus driver and monitor did not properly strap a 7-year-old Cincinnati Public Schools student with developmental disabilities into her seat, ultimately causing her death, according to emails provided to WCPO 9.

Ngone Talla died Sept. 16 on her CPS bus after suffering "positional asphyxiation," according to the Hamilton County Coroner's Office. Ngone was a student at Roselawn Condon School and was nonverbal, used a wheelchair and had developmental disabilities.

The coroner's office ruled the manner of death accidental, but an email from CPS Superintendent Shauna Murphy to the school board states that the 7-year-old's death was caused by the driver and monitor on the bus not properly strapping the child into her seat.

"I spoke with John Keening from First Student. He shared the driver and the monitor on the bus did not strap her on appropriately, causing her death," Murphy wrote in an email from 8:39 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 16, the day Ngone died.

According to the autopsy report, Ngone was sitting in a "five-point" seat belt restraint system for her wheelchair. While moving her arms and legs in the wheelchair, a symptom of her disability, Ngone's butt slipped off the wheelchair seat, and the seat belt and restraint system compressed her right neck and chin. This compression caused rapid asphyxiation and loss of consciousness.

WATCH: Autopsy report reveals cause and manner of death for 7-year-old CPS student

Her father, Abdoula Talla, previously told WCPO 9 his daughter was healthy and happy when she went to school Wednesday, Sept. 16 morning. Her family said the bus arrived at their Northside home shortly before 5 p.m., but sat outside for 10 to 15 minutes before they were asked to come aboard.

That's when Ngone's 12-year-old sister, Marema Talla, said she found her motionless in her wheelchair.

"I checked her pulse, and she wasn't breathing," Marema said. "So I was like panicked."

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Abdoula said he called 911 at approximately 5:03 p.m. Emergency dispatch recordings reviewed by WCPO show crews were sent to the family's Colerain Avenue address at 5:05 p.m. for a child in possible cardiac arrest.

The autopsy report says that there was a "delay in care prior to emergency services contact," and Ngone was eventually pronounced dead at the scene.

Abdoula previously told WCPO that the monitor aboard his daughter's bus that day was someone his family had never seen before. The assistant who normally rode the bus with Ngone was not there that day, according to Abdoula.

WCPO has previously asked CPS to confirm whether the employee was new or serving as a substitute.

That question could be significant depending on what Ngone's Individualized Education Program, or IEP, required, Carla Leader, an Ohio attorney who specializes in education and special education law, told WCPO.

WCPO does not know what Ngone's IEP required, whether it called for an aide during transportation or what training the employees aboard her bus had received.

Leader cautioned that those unanswered questions should not be taken as evidence that someone failed to follow Ngone's IEP.

Abdoula said he believes someone aboard the bus should have called 911 if they realized his daughter was in distress.

"If you see any kid not moving or anything happen, I think what you're supposed to do, call 911 and try to get some help," he said.