A woman has avoided jail over a tragic schoolyard crash that claimed the life of 11-year-old Jack Davey.
Jack died in hospital after a white SUV crashed through the fence of Auburn South Primary School around 2:35 pm on October 29, 2024.
Several children were struck in the incident. Jack was rushed to hospital with critical injuries, along with four other students, and died shortly afterward.
Three girls, two aged 11 and one aged 10, and a 10-year-old boy were also seriously injured in the crash.
Driver Shaymaa Oun Zuhaira, 41, a refugee from Iraq, was arrested at the scene but later released. She was charged over the incident seven months afterward and pleaded guilty to a single charge of careless driving in Melbourne Magistrates Court on September 1, 2025.
Zuhaira was fined $2,000 on Wednesday and disqualified from driving for two years.
A second charge of failure to have proper control of a vehicle had earlier been withdrawn.
Jack’s parents, Michael and Jayde Davey, delivered an emotional testimony in court, describing their “endless grief” over his death, made even harder by the fact that the woman responsible faces only a single charge of careless driving.
Mr Davey described the careless driving charge as an “insult.”
“An 11-year-old boy, dead in an instant … Jack never saw the car, it’s impossible,” he told the court.
“How does your car crash through that fence, over that median strip, into those poor children?
“It is impossible, unbelievable and something I think about every second of the day. The lack of answers to those questions enrages me.”
“You killed our son … you destroyed the life our family cherished, how dare you,” he added.
“You caused this inexplicably and unbelievably … It’s impossible and something I think about every day. The lack of answers enrages me.”
Zuhaira sobbed throughout much of his statement, at one point saying, “I’m sorry, I swear.”
Jack’s mother said “in the depths and pits of endless grief, I tried to accept my son was gone”.
“One minute he was here, laughing with his friends, and the next he was killed,” she told the court.
“The charges go nowhere near the outcome. It is an insult to us, and to Jack, if there is no charge for killing him, where is his justice?”
Mr Davey said he would spend this coming Father’s Day lying in the dirt at his son’s grave.
The court heard Zuhaira had been at the school to pick up a child and meet the principal, parking in a parallel car park on Burgess St. After returning to her car, it surged forward and to the right, over a median strip, through a metal fence and garden bed, and into the school grounds at 28 km/h.
Jack and his friends, seated around an outdoor picnic table during a school break, were struck, with several pinned under the Toyota SUV.
Zuhaira stopped at the scene and called triple-0. Paramedics later assessed her as highly emotional.
In a record of interview with police, Zuhaira said there had been a steering issue that “happened twice for me before.” She added, “I keep saying I can’t control the car … I hit the area where the kids were.”
“I just killed someone.”
Technicians later assessed the vehicle and found it to be in good working order, with no faults contributing to the crash.
Prosecutor Anthony Albore noted that a crash examiner could not exclude “pedal misapplication”, meaning the driver may have pressed the accelerator instead of the brake.
Zuhaira’s lawyer, Matthew Senia, said pedal misapplication was the most likely explanation. He told the court his client was profoundly remorseful and had experienced depression, fear, and agitation since the crash.
“In her opinion her life had ended as a result of the offending,” he said.
Zuhaira’s family expressed their grief in a statement released through Victoria Police following the crash, “To Jack’s family, we can only offer our heartfelt condolences; our hearts go out to you and to every family affected by this loss.”
“To those injured, may you heal quickly – God bless you all.
“As a family with children, we feel this grief profoundly, sharing in the pain others now carry. It’s not about the words we say, but the genuine sorrow held within our hearts.”
Images: Victorian Education Department
