Grant County school bus driver injures 17 in crash, gets 22 years

WILLIAMSTOWN - As guards escorted Angelynna Young out of a courtroom Thursday to begin serving a 22-year sentence (video) for causing a near-fatal school bus crash, she turned to some of the injured students and said she was sorry...

"It is too late to say you are sorry," said Steve Shively, whose son Cody was one of two children who received head injuries in the wreck. "You should have thought of that the morning you got on the bus. I'm just thoroughly disgusted."

Authorities said Young, 29, of Williamstown, had little sleep and illegal drugs in her system on Jan. 17 when she caused the worst bus wreck the region had seen since the 1988 Carroll County bus crash that killed 27 people. A drunken driver going the wrong direction on Interstate 71 slammed into a church bus returning from Kings Island.

The wreck has been an emotional event for rural Grant County because residents believe their trust was violated, Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Crawford said.

"You don't put your kid on the bus and not feel confident in the school bus driver," Crawford said. "It is like not having confidence in a police officer, firefighter or doctor. There are certain people in society you have to believe in."

About 30 people attended the emotional hearing in Grant Circuit Court and watched a video taken aboard the bus as Young ran off U.S. 25, overcorrected and struck a utility pole.

"The day of the accident was the worst day of my life," Steve Shively said. "You don't know if your son is going to live. ... Doctors will not tell you. All you can do is sit and cry. That's all we did, basically, for three months was to sit and cry."

This from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Grant County School Bus driver accepts plea deal

Crash sent 17 kids to hospital

Two days after refusing a plea deal that would send her to prison for a minimum of 10 years and two months, the 29-year-old walked into a Grant County courtroom Friday afternoon and accepted the same deal.

The Grant County school bus driver who crashed her bus into a pole Jan. 17, sending all 17 students on board to hospitals, pleaded guilty to 25 charges of drug possession, wanton endangerment and assault. In exchange, Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Crawford recommended a 22-year sentence with eligibility for parole after 122 months.

Cody Shively, 12, of Dry Ridge, was one of two children who received head injuries in the crash. He sat in the front row of the courtroom, wearing a helmet to protect his skull.

Cody said he "wanted her to stay in prison for 100 years."

After the crash, investigators found more than 40 bottles of prescription medications in Young's Williamstown apartment. A urine test revealed drugs, including cocaine, marijuana and the prescription painkiller Darvocet, in her system at the time of the wreck.

She had only slept about five hours the night before the crash, investigators said.

This from the Cincinnati Enquirer, photo by PATRICK REDDY.

School Bus Driver To Go To Trial

The driver of a school bus that crashed and injured 17 students in January will go to trial after an expected plea deal in the case fell through Wednesday.

Angelynna Young, 28, of Williamstown was asked by the judge in the case if she agreed to a plea deal because she was guilty, but Young said no. At that point, the Commonweath's attorney withdrew the plea deal, and Young's trial was set to begin next Tuesday.

Young was driving a Grant County school bus Jan. 17 when it went off the road and struck a utility pole. Two students were taken to area hospitals in critical condition after the crash, while Young and 15 other students were treated for minor injuries. The crash happened in Grant County.

This from WLEX-TV.