1 Year Later: Miranda Vargas, Paramus Bus Crash Victim Remembered

PARAMUS, NJ — Miranda Faith Vargas loved to build things.

Vargas wanted to be an engineer when she got older. She wanted to build skyscrapers. She loved playing with LEGOs.

"You could never interrupt her while she was playing with LEGOs," her father, Joevanny Vargas said. "She would ask for help and I would say, 'love, I will help you with all the strength in my body.'"

But the dreams that Vargas and her family had for her ended on May 16, 2018 when the school bus she was in was hit by a dump truck on Interstate 80. The bus was filled with dozens of students and teachers from East Brook Middle School, who were on their way to Waterloo Village in Sussex County. Vargas, 10, and her teacher, Jennifer Williamson, 51, died in the crash. Dozens more were injured.

"This last year has been nothing short of a nightmare. You wake up and say to yourself, 'this is only a dream,'" Jeovanny Vargas said. "It's been very rough for all of us. It's been difficult to wake up and realize this isn't a dream. I want to celebrate her life, but a big wall of pain gets in the way."

Joevanny Vargas said he thinks of a lot of things about his daughter.

"The first thing that comes to mind was her big, beautiful eyes," Joevanny Vargas said. "Her smile, her hugs, her kindness, her beauty. It's not just one thing that I think of."

Vargas and her family were as close as they could be.

"Sometimes we had a hard time eating because she was glued to us," Jeovanny Vargas said. "We miss all of it. We were never workaholics. We offered her so much time and attention. If it were the opposite, I don't know what I would do with myself."

Vargas always helped others, her father said. She was a defender of those younger than her.

"Even when she was in kindergarten she would say, 'I want to help.' So we would go to our church and work with the younger kids. At school too," said Jeovanny Vargas.

He successfully pushed New Jersey lawmakers to pass a law requiring three-point seat belts on schools buses, one of the few laws like it in the United States. The law was nicknamed "Miranda's Law." He is backing a bill re-introduced by Rep. Josh Gottheimer that would require school districts and school bus companies to be automatically notified within 24 hours of when one of their drivers receives a traffic violation.

That bill was created following news that Hudy Muldrow Sr., 78, drove the bus despite his driver's license being suspended 14 times since 1975, most recently from December 2017 to January 2018. He reportedly made an illegal U-turn on a police turnaround to get to the other side of the highway. That's when a dump truck crashed into the bus.

Muldrow pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree reckless vehicular homicide, 25 counts of fourth-degree assault by auto, and 16 counts of assault by auto. He was indicted on all charges and arraigned last month.

Muldrow's trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 7, the Daily Record reported.

"I want him to rot in jail," Jeovanny Vargas said of Muldrow. "I want nothing less than the justice system to do their job. This will prove whether we have a justice system. It was a selfish thing he did. Who turns a school bus around where he did?"

Jeovanny Vargas is also lobbying for Congress to approve the SECURES ACT. The legislation would require lap-and-shoulder belts on all school buses, nationwide.

"I'm trying to mirror her. She would try to stand up and help these kids," Jeovanny Vargas said. "I want kids who get on a bus to see those seat belts and know that the person driving the bus is qualified. I want them to look at the sky and say 'thank you, Miranda.'"

The family has received a lot of support from the greater Paramus community since the crash.

"All of it helps. We appreciate, first and foremost, prayers. We need strength, and we get it through prayer," Jeovanny Vargas said. "The Paramus community has been amazing."

Related:

• Teacher, Student Confirmed Dead In Paramus Field Trip Bus Crash
• Miranda Faith Vargas ID'd As Student Victim Of Paramus Bus Crash
  
• Miranda's Law Would Create Bus Driver Safety Notification System
  
• Murphy Signs School Bus Seat Belt Legislation Into Law
• Why Was Elderly Man With 14 Suspensions Driving Doomed NJ Bus?

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com