BASTROP — More than a year after a Hays CISD bus was involved in a major accident, leaving its community shattered, Jerry Hernandez, 44, was sentenced to 18 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system for two counts of manslaughter, to run concurrently, Sept. 18.
In the afternoon of March 22, 2024, a Hays CISD bus filled with Tom Green Elementary School pre-kindergarten students was returning from a morning at the Capital of Texas Zoo in Cedar Creek, when a concrete pump truck, driven by Hernandez, veered into its lane.
As previously reported by the Hays Free Press, 53 individuals were evaluated onsite, with several being transported by STAR Flight.
The collision took the lives of two individuals — Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, a 5-year-old student, and 33-year-old Ryan Wallace…