Truck driver charged with criminally negligent homicide in fatal Texas bus crash

Children are transported from a fatal school bus crash on... — Children are transported from a fatal school bus crash on Texas State Highway 21 near Caldwell Road on Friday, March 22, 2024, in Bastrop, Texas. Texas authorities say a school bus with more than 40 pre-k students collided with a concrete truck and rolled over while returning from a field trip, killing a boy on the bus and a man in another vehicle. Credit: AP/Jay Janner

By The Associated PressMarch 29, 2024

BASTROP, Texas — The driver of a cement truck that veered into oncoming traffic and hit a school bus carrying more than 40 pre-K students was arrested Friday and charged with criminally negligent homicide.

Jerry Hernandez, 42, was arrested at a residence in Bastrop County without incident, said Sgt. Deon Cockrell of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Criminally negligent homicide is punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000. Bastrop County online records do not show if Hernandez has an attorney.

The March 22 collision killed 5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, who was on the bus, and Ryan Wallace, 33, who was driving another vehicle that was hit by the truck.

Video from a bus dashboard camera released by the Hays Consolidated Independent School district showed the truck suddenly veer across the double-yellow line on a rural highway. The bus moved to avoid a head-on collision before it was struck and rolled, crumpling the roof.

Four people were airlifted from the crash site in critical condition, and six more with serious injuries were taken by ambulance to hospitals. The bus was carrying 11 adults as well as the children.

The school district said the bus did not have seat belts.