A Texas truck driver accused of causing a fatal school bus crash allegedly admitted to doing cocaine before the accident.
Jerry Hernandez, 42, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide in connection with the collision that left a 5-year-old boy and 33-year-old man dead, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety, KXAN-TV reported.
It's unclear if he retained an attorney to comment on his behalf or entered a plea.
On March 22, Hernandez allegedly crashed his concrete truck head-on into a school bus carrying over 50 passengers, including 44 Tom Green Elementary pre-K students, returning from a zoo field trip in Bastrop County, Texas, authorities said, according to the Austin-American Statesman and the Associated Press.
Five-year-old bus passenger Ulises Rodriguez Montoya and 33-year-old Ryan Wallace, who was driving a vehicle behind the bus, were killed.
It's unclear how fast Hernandez was driving.
During police interviews, Hernandez allegedly confessed to smoking marijuana and doing a "small amount of cocaine" before getting behind the wheel, the Statesman reported, citing the affidavit.
Hernandez had allegedly failed a work-related drug test for cocaine as recent as April 2023, but was still eligible to drive, according to the federal Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse database, KXAN-TV reported. Although his CDL license was listed in "prohibited" status, he was still "eligible" to drive a concrete truck in Texas.
Francisco Martinez, the owner of FJM Concrete Pumping, where Hernandez was employed, allegedly told investigators he did not verify Hernandez's driving history with the database.
