BASTROP COUNTY, Texas (KEYE) — In the second lawsuit since the deadly Texas bus crash three weeks ago, six families have sued the concrete truck driver and his company after the truck veered into oncoming traffic, causing the bus to crash.
Jerry Hernandez has been charged with negligent homicide for the bus crash, which resulted in the deaths of 5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya and 33-year-old Ryan Wallace.
Last week, one of the Tom Green Elementary School teachers on board the bus during the accident sued Hernandez and his company, F.J.M. Concrete. Now, in a second lawsuit, several families, too, have sued Hernandez and F.J.M. Concrete.
KEYE reached out to attorneys for both the families and F.J.M. Concrete, but those requests for comment went unreturned.
According to police records, Hernandez had admitted to ingesting marijuana the night before and cocaine the morning of the fatal bus crash. He also allegedly said he was operating the commercial vehicle on very little sleep.
KEYE found Hernandez had a criminal record stretching back nearly two decades, that included previous charges of driving with a suspended license and, just last year, charges of abuse.
Both lawsuits cite those factors within their original complaints against Hernandez and F.J.M. Concrete, seeking more than a million dollars in damages, with the families’ lawsuits saying the accident “forever altered the courses of all lives of those on the bus.”
In the former lawsuit, filed by the Tom Green teacher, another family has joined that case, as well, according to court filings, similarly arguing for personal injury sustained in the crash. That family’s attorney, Laura Ramos James, said she expects more lawsuits in the future.
Our kiddo was another one of the students and they unfortunately witnessed and experienced things that us as parents try to protect our kids from ever having to witness,” James said. “There are so many people injured that the funds to compensate their medical expenses, their disfigurement, and things that the law allows for them to obtain are insufficient. So, sadly, there just may not be enough for everyone.”
Notedly, neither suit makes mention of the lack of seatbelts on the Hays CISD bus involved in that crash. Per Texas law, the bus was in compliance, but the lack of seatbelts has prompted safety concerns from parents.
On Monday, Hays CISD officials will discuss accelerating the process of replacing those buses with ones that do have seatbelts. Some parents say they plan to attend that meeting.
James said her office has not “ruled out liability of other parties.”
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