The driver of a cement truck that veered into oncoming traffic and hit a school bus carrying more than 40 pre-K students, killing a 5-year-old boy and a driver of another vehicle, 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.
Court documents said the truck driver admitted to smoking marijuana and consuming cocaine within 24 hours of the crash.
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.
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The March 22 collision killed 5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, who was on the bus, and 33-year-old Ryan Wallace who was driving another vehicle that was hit by the truck.
BUS CRASH DASHCAM VIDEO RELEASED
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.
The original video contained audio from inside the bus. In the edited video below, that audio has been removed.
