MTA pay

Kin of boy, 7, killed by bus plan $10M suit

THE FAMILY of a 7-year-old boy hit and killed by a city bus in the Bronx plans to sue the MTA for $10 million, their lawyer said Tuesday.

Shavone Bethea Jr. was riding a Razor scooter on Webster Ave. near E. 184th St. on Saturday when he shot out into the path of the BX41 bus.

The bus driver was negligent, according to a notice of claim filed by Sanford Rubenstein, the lawyer representing the family. He said that makes the transit agency liable for the child’s death.

Police said the driver had a green light. They also said the roadway is steep and Shavone may have picked up speed before entering the intersection.

“That was my baby. My last, and my baby,” his mother, Nickya Bethea, 30, a model and singer, said in the lawyer’s office on Tuesday.

“He was loving, he was caring,” she said. “He’d always try to find ways to make me happy.”

Shavone, whom everyone called “Vonne,” loved SpiderMan, dancing and his mother’s Caribbean meals.

On Saturday, the boy was hanging out with his older brother, Dishawn, 10, and father, Shavone Bethea Sr., on their way to meet his aunt for a cookout in the park when the accident happened.

Dishawn had been right behind his brother and said he saw the driver run the light.

The dad said the boy’s death has hit him hard.

“No one can compare to him. That’s my firstborn. I waited 27 years to have him,” he said.

His mom recalled Vonne sometimes picked flowers for her on his way home from school. On one weekend when money was particularly tight he sold old books on the street.

“He sold all the books. And when he felt like (it) wasn’t enough, he went back downstairs to church,” she said.

“He told them, ‘My mommy don’t have nothing,’ ” she said, choking back tears. The church gave him pictures to sell on the corner for $2 each.

“That weekend he made $70,” she said. “All by himself.” Nickya bought groceries and cooked chicken and rice. She said they had a great weekend.

“We will be conducting an independent investigation with regard to the occurrence, and we will be filing a notice of claim for wrongful death as well as the emotional distress of his brother, who was there when this horrific accident occurred,” Rubenstein said.

MTA spokesman Shams Tarek declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.