Special needs aide abused autistic South MS child on school bus, lawsuit says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Video review showed aide restraining, striking 5‑year‑old with autism.
- School disability aide was fired and arrested, assault charges upgraded to felony.
- Mother seeks damages, alleging gross negligence and other claims against staff, district.
The autistic 5-year-old struggled with words, but often sang The Wheels on the Bus before catching the bus to school in Harrison County.
He stopped singing the tune in January 2025. In fact, his mother says in a civil lawsuit that her son’s behavior changed markedly.
He was sad and fearful before the bus arrived. He was unusually aggressive, hitting his teacher. The boy’s mother also had several “odd and bizarre” interactions with the school bus driver and disability aide, including about the need for a harness to keep her son in his seat and the aide’s assertion, in February 2025, that her son hit his head while on the bus.
She reported “deep concerns that something was happening on the bus,” in February 2025 to Sharron Wade, assistant principal at North Woolmarket Elementary and Middle School. She asked Wade to review bus video to see what might be happening. If Wade reviewed video, the child’s mother did not hear back.
Wade persisted with her request. School officials finally reviewed bus video March 14, 2025. The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office arrested disability aide Roger Duwayne Ladner, 72, of Perkinston the same day, the county jail docket shows, on a misdemeanor assault charge, upgraded days later to felony abuse of a vulnerable person.
The mother’s claims about what happened are detailed in the civil lawsuit that she filed in Harrison County Circuit Court against Ladner, Wade, county school Superintendent William Bentz and the bus driver, Lucia Tomosa Eastes. The defendants have not had time to file responses to the lawsuit, which represents only one side of the case. The Sun Herald is not identifying the mother to protect the identity of her son.
Mother seeks punitive damages
The lawsuit describes what happened to her son on the bus on March 12, 2025. But she believes “other acts of physical and mental abuse” occurred before that day. A Harrison County deputy who investigated described what happened in the video. His report is quoted in the lawsuit:
“Mr. Ladner is shown strapping the victim down, overextending the victim’s right leg and striking the victim’s right leg with his fist several times. Mr. Ladner also used an additional seat belt strap to tie the victim’s leg to the seat in an effort to prevent him from kicking.” Ladner was fired the day he was arrested. The deputy’s report said termination of bus driver Eastes was pending because she witnessed what happened and failed to report it.
A second deputy noted the child was harnessed for “moving around,” with the harness pulled so tight that the child’s rear end was no longer touching the seat. The boy continued to kick the seat, this deputy said, which is when Ladner grabbed the boy from behind, pulled the child’s leg level with his shoulder and began striking him.
The lawsuit, filed by attorney Kenneth M. Altman of Morris Bart Ltd. in Gulfport, accuses Ladner and Eastes of assault and battery, naming Eastes as an accessory. They also are accused, along with the school district and assistant principal Wade, of intentional infliction of emotional distress and gross negligence. If proven, gross negligence represents willful disregard for the safety of others, entitling them to punitive damages.
The district also is accused of negligent hiring, training and supervision.
The mother seeks compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and legal expenses, plus punitive damages, for her and her son.
