Uncle of girl who died in bus stop crash remembers her as 'mother hen' to her twin brothers

Uncle of girl who died in bus stop crash remembers her as 'mother hen' to her twin brothers

The uncle of the Indiana girl who was tragically killed alongside her twin brothers at their bus stop on Tuesday described his niece as a "mother hen" to her two younger siblings.

Elgin Ingle, the uncle of 9-year-old Alivia Stahl and Xzavier and Mason Ingle, both 6, told CBS that Alivia was constantly watching out for the boys and that he believes she tried to sacrifice herself to save them in her final moments.

"It's horrible that this happened," Ingle told the outlet. "They were holding hands every day on the way to the bus stop including today… it looks like Alivia stepped in front of the car for the boys. It looks like Alivia seen (sic) what was happening, and she stepped up like a hero. I wish she could've saved her brothers, but she's still a hero."

Photos from the case:

The three young siblings were attempting to cross a two-lane road outside of their trailer park home when a pickup truck driven by 24-year-old Alyssa Shepherd rammed into them and one other child, WSBT reports.

According to authorities, the school bus followed proper protocol and had its stop-arm out at the time of the accident. All 50 states have laws that prohibit drivers from passing school buses when they are stopped and have their flashing lights on.

Alivia, Xzavier and Mason all died on the scene, while the fourth student, Maverik Lowe, suffered multiple broken bones and was airlifted to a hospital to undergo emergency surgery.

Indiana State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum said that the gruesome scene caused emergency responders to become visibly emotional.

"Troopers and first responders don't do a lot of crying at scenes like this but today there were some tears shed," Sgt. Slocum said.

Shepherd was arrested following the crash and was charged with three counts of reckless homicide and one count of passing a school bus when arm signal device is extended, causing bodily injury. She has been released from jail on a $15,000 bond and will appear in court on Nov. 13, WSBT reports.