MEMPHIS, TN - Melodia Dunn’s defense attorney says cuts in bus routes may be the reason two lives were cut short. Dunn has been charged with aggravated child endangerment and reckless homicide.
Police say her two boys were trapped in a burning house, while she was out shopping. They both died from their injuries. But her attorney, Mike Working, says his 22-year-old client wasn’t shopping, she was going to pick up her 5-year-old son from school.
“As you will recall, the city schools cancelled all busing routes for anyone who had lived within two miles of the school. At the time a lot of bureaucrats thought it was a good idea. According to the neighbors I interviewed she had a routine of going to pick up her 5-year-old son who was in school about two miles down the road. I think she was in a position that many poor mothers are in now that we’ve canceled busing for children. Obviously you can’t let a 5-year-old walk down Elvis Presley two miles without committing aggravated child neglect either.”
But parents like Rita Ricks disagree. “Memphis City Schools is not the cause of the kids' death. Memphis City Schools had nothing to do with them dying. It’s the parent’s fault.”
Working says he’s working to change the charges brought against Dunn. “I think the indictment will change one way or the other. It will either be agreed that we will bring the charge down and enter a plea agreement.”
Melodia Dunn could spend anywhere from 15 to 60 years in prison if found guilty.
She has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation. She will be back in court in January.
The Memphis City Schools District is not commenting tonight on Working’s theory that bus cuts may have played a role in the two boy’s deaths.
