The longtime girlfriend of a Woodland bus driver who died in February is planning to file a lawsuit against those who administered the emergency procedure that reportedly caused his death.

Antoinette Fonseca claims the Yolo County coroner who did the autopsy told her that Quintin Jones, 48, would not have died from any injuries as a result of the bus accident that threw him out of the driver's side windshield on Feb. 25.

Instead, an incision made in Jones' neck, or a cricothyrotomy - which should have aided his breathing - resulted in "massive blood aspiration" that caused his death, according to the coroner's report.

"They almost cut his windpipe in half," Fonseca said in a phone interview last Thursday, two days after the coroner's report was released. "It is sick, is what it is. ... He died because they slit his throat."

The coroner's report states that emergency responders for CALSTAR, an air ambulance company, performed the medical procedure after taking over from American Medical Response.

However, after "multiple unsuccessful airway attempts,"

CALSTAR relinquished authority over Jones to AMR technicians, who took him to Woodland Memorial Hospital, because he could not be taken in the helicopter without an established airway, according to the report.

CALSTAR President Joseph F. Cook said that an incision in Jones' neck made by a piece of glass from the shattered windshield inhibited the success of the cricothyrotomy and was a factor in Jones' death. Cook said he believes the coroner misinterpreted the autopsy findings in attributing the cause of death to the cricothyrotomy incision.

CALSTAR staff are trained in providing emergency medical aid; however, they are considered "nurses." The are not formally considered to be either "EMTs," or "paramedics."

The autopsy report, which documents in detail the examination of the body, does indicate an additional wound, about 2-3 centimeters in length, that "completely perforates the right lateral and posterior wall of the upper trachea at about the first and second tracheal ring level."

The autopsy report also notes that the cricothyrotomy incision is about 2 centimeters in length and "extends through the lower larynx approximately three-quarters of the way around the circumference."

The report classifies the manner of death as an "accident" and a "therapeutic misadventure."

Fonseca said she believes several people are responsible for Jones' death, and she has hired an attorney and begun the procedures for litigation.

Jones left behind three children and four grandchildren, she said. The couple had been dating for 16 years and had one child together.

"We're all having a really, really, really hard time with it," Fonseca said.

Jones was a Yolobus driver and was operating his bus on Highway 16 just west of Woodland when the accident occurred around 1:35 a.m. on Feb. 25. According to reports from passengers and footage from a camera installed in the bus, Jones grabbed his head and began screaming shortly before the bus ran off the road, struck a pole and he was thrown from the vehicle.

According to California Highway Patrol Officer Curtis Reese, the bus was traveling east at about 35 mph. The bus veered right, or south, and went off the roadway just west of the Wildwings subdivision, about four miles west of Woodland, where it struck a power pole and continued on into a field. Jones was thrown from the bus when it came to a stop.

There were 10 passengers on the bus at the time of the accident and one reportedly sustained a minor cut. All others were uninjured.

Fonseca told investigators that Jones had recently been experiencing severe headaches; however, it is unclear whether his reaction while driving the bus was caused by a medical condition.

Investigators were unable to locate Jones' medical history. A toxicology examination found some cocaine in his system, but no substances were deemed related to his death.