Texas school bus crash: Mother of child injured speaks out

BASTROP COUNTY, Texas - The mother of an injured child who was on a Hays CISD school bus last year when a cement truck crashed into it and killed two people is speaking out.

The defendant, Jerry Hernandez, took a plea agreement this week.

One child on the bus died, as well as the driver in the car behind the bus.

Hernandez still faces multiple lawsuits from those who were injured.

Victim's mother speaks out

Local perspective:

Widyan Younes says her daughter Masa, who is now 6, is still dealing with the effects of what happened on March 22, 2024.

The bus was coming back from a field trip on SH 21. Younes was chaperoning on the field trip but didn't take the bus back with the kids.

When she got to the school for pickup, she saw police cars. She waited for hours to figure out what was going on, later learning Masa had been airlifted to the hospital.

"She was intubated. She had tubes down her throat. She was bloody everywhere, her clothes were bloody. There was glass all over her body, all over her hair," Younes said.

Masa was initially in a coma and had a concussion.

"The first thing she brought up when she woke up is 'I died.' She said that to me and to this day, it breaks me," Younes said. "She said she saw a man with wings coming down, picking up the kid that was with her. She said she saw the kid die."

Masa still struggles with PTSD. She wakes up with nausea and fear, and is still afraid of getting in certain vehicles.

"All the kids that were on that bus still have trauma. They were only five-years-old," Younes said.

Younes says she wants her voice to be heard.

"That's just him seeking the easier route out, and I don't I think that's okay, that's not justice for me," she said. "Justice for me is me sitting in court telling my story."

What happened?

The backstory:

In March 2024, 42-year-old Jerry Hernandez was driving a concrete truck on Highway 21 when he crossed over the double yellow stripe and crashed into a Hays CISD bus carrying 44 preschoolers and 11 adults who were returning from a field trip.

5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya was killed, along with Ryan Wallace, 33, who was in a car behind the bus.

Hernandez was indicted on two counts of manslaughter and two counts of criminally negligent homicide.

The indictment says he took no evasive action to avoid striking the vehicles.

Court documents show Hernandez admitted to using marijuana the night before the crash, cocaine the morning of, and only slept three hours. His employer, FJM Concrete, is accused of not checking his background before they hired him. 

Attorney speaks out

Local perspective:

"There's not anything that's going to make people whole, but our hope is that this is one sort of step in that healing journey. It gives them a semblance of justice," Tim Savoy, spokesperson for Hays CISD, said. 

Ulises Montoya, 5, was killed, along with Ryan Wallace, 33, who was in a car behind the bus.

Jason Feltoon represents seven of the most severely injured children and a faculty member who is also a parent in the civil lawsuit. He says no one reached out to him about victim impact statements before the deal was made.

"I found out about it just like everyone else did, and was quite surprised, quite frankly, to see that a plea agreement had been agreed upon by the prosecutor and defense counsel," Feltoon said. "To the best of my knowledge, the judge has yet to sign off on this plea agreement."

Those on the bus continue to heal from physical and psychological wounds.

"You're looking at injuries ranging from disfigurement to acute brain injuries, akin to concussions," Feltoon said.

Meanwhile, Hernandez still faces multiple civil lawsuits relating to the crash.

"We continue to do the hard work of trying to obtain a positive result for our clients," Feltoon said.

What's next:

Neither the Bastrop County DA nor the defendant's attorney responded to questions about the plea agreement. 

Court records show he has a sentencing hearing on Sept. 18.

Bastrop CountyCrime and Public SafetyHays County