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Tennessee school bus crash: Former driver pleads not guilty to manslaughter
By Terace Garnier
Published March 24, 2017
Johnthony Walker (Hamilton County Sheriff's Office)
Johnthony Walker, the Tennessee man charged with manslaughter for the deaths of six children after crashing a school bus, pleaded not guilty during an arraignment at the Hamilton County Criminal Court on Friday.
In November 2016, the former school bus driver picked up 37 children from Woodmore Elementary School. An affidavit of complaint states Walker was traveling at high speeds on an unauthorized route when he swerved and hit a mailbox and telephone pole, causing the school bus to flip and crash into a tree.
Six children died and more than 20 other students suffered critical and non-critical injuries.
According to Hamilton Criminal County Clerk’s Office court documents, the 24-year-old was indicted earlier this month on six counts of vehicular manslaughter and faces four counts of reckless aggravated assault, one count of reckless driving, one count of use of a portable device by a bus driver and one count of reckless endangerment.
A clerk at the Hamilton Criminal County Clerk’s Office told Fox a motion for discovery was filed in open court.
His next court date is set for April 19th.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/tennessee-school-bus-crash-former-driver-pleads-not-guilty-to-manslaughter