Concrete truck driver charged in deadly crash with school bus

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (Talk1370.com) -- The driver of a concrete truck that crashed into a Hays CISD school bus last week has been charged as of Friday afternoon.

42-year old Jerry Hernandez is facing a charge of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the crash last Friday, which resulted in the deaths of 5-year old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya and 33-year old Ryan Wallace.

Thursday, a court affidavit detailed statements Hernandez made to DPS investigators after the crash, including telling a trooper that he smoked marijuana and consumed cocaine hours before the crash and had about three hours of sleep in between, before going to work early the morning of the crash.

A video recording from the bus shows the concrete pumper truck crossing a double yellow line into the path of the bus, striking the vehicle and sending it rolling over. Off video, the concrete truck also crashed into Wallace's vehicle, driving behind the bus.

The bus was carrying 44 Pre-K students and 11 adults from Tom Green Elementary in Buda; in addition to the deaths of Montoya and Wallace, dozens of other passengers on the bus suffered injuries in the crash.

Under Texas law, criminally negligent homicide is punishable as a state jail felony, with a maximum fine of up to $10,000 and jail time of up to two years.