Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Associated Press
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.
A school-bus driver was behind bars Tuesday after a crash killed five youngsters and plunged Chattanooga into mourning over what the mayor called the “most unnatural thing in the world” – a parent losing a child.
Police said Johnthony Walker, 24, was speeding along a narrow, winding road Monday when he wrapped his vehicle around a tree. Walker was arrested and charged with five counts of vehicular homicide.
Parents who send their children off to school every day struggled to come to grips with the shock and break the news to their loved ones.
“It’s real tough, said Dujuan Butchee, whose daughters, Jamya and Janesa, are eighth-graders who used to go to the same school as the youngsters killed in the wreck.
Butchee said it wasn’t the first bus he had heard of that had been speeding: “I think it should wake up more bus drivers to be more cautious because you’re dealing with a lot of kids’ lives.”
Police said Walker was driving well over the posted 30 mph limit when he lost control of the bus. He was jailed on $107,500 bail for a court appearance Tuesday on charges that also include reckless driving and reckless endangerment.
Thirty-five Woodmore Elementary School students from kindergarten through fifth grade were aboard the bus. Twelve children remained hospitalized Tuesday, six in intensive care, said Kirk Kelly, interim school superintendent.
Three of the children killed were in fourth grade, one was in first grade and another in kindergarten, Kelly said. Their families were notified, but their names were not released.
Walker had an accident involving property damage in September, and his license was suspended for about a month in 2014 for failure to show proof of insurance, according to state commercial driver records.