No charges in fatal Pendleton bus crash

This from the Enquirer:

FALMOUTH - A Pendleton County grand jury declined this morning to indict a man accused of causing a wreck that killed a teenage boy in May.

"In regard to the events of May 1, 2008 regarding the accident on Kentucky Route 22 resulting in the tragic death of Daniel Wood, a student at Pendleton County High School, the grand jury finds that while the accident had to have been the result of negligence, based on the evidence available at this time, the grand jury has elected to return a no true bill," the grand jury wrote.

Doug Wright, Commonwealth's Attorney for Pendleton County, said the grand jury had been asked to consider the charge of reckless homicide. But that would not have barred the jury from indicting Francisco Yulfo on other charges, he said.

Wright said prosecutors presented all the information they had in the case. One witness was called; Pendleton County Sheriff Craig Peoples testified about the investigation into the crash, including blood tests done on both drivers and the results of the accident reconstruction.

Peoples said the final investigation report indicated Yulfo was traveling within the legal speed limit, which is 55 mph. The suggested speed limit at the site of the crash, a sharp curve in the road, is 35 mph - but that's an advisory speed, not the legal limit.

Yulfo was driving a dump truck that crossed the center line of Ky. 22 west around 7 a.m. May 1. The truck struck a school bus carrying about a dozen students. Daniel Wood, 16, was killed instantly.

An attorney for Yulfo could not immediately be reached for comment.Wood's family has filed a civil lawsuit against Yulfo and his employer, XXL Trucking in West Liberty, Ky.

The lawsuit alleges negligence by both parties, who have filed motions to dismiss the case.

Wood's family is also lobbying the state to make improvements to Ky. 22 west, a curvy two-lane road that residents of the area say can be dangerous, especially with increased construction traffic in recent years. Yulfo was carrying a load of rock to a construction site in Grant County at the time of the crash.

Returning a no true bill is not the same as dismissing the case, so the case could be presented to a grand jury at a later date if new information comes to light. There is no statute of limitation on felonies. But Peoples said the case is now considered closed.

KSN&C Backstory.

Grant County bus driver urine tests ruled admissible

The boy who was most badly injured when driver Angelynna Young crashed her school bus last January sat just a few feet from the Williamstown woman in a Grant County courtroom Wednesday.

He listened as her attorneys tried unsuccessfully to get disputed evidence that she was using drugs that day excluded from her upcoming trial, which a judge also refused to move away from the close-knit rural community.

Grant Circuit Court Judge Stephen Bates ruled that urine tests showing the former Grant County Middle School bus driver had intoxicants, including cocaine, in her system during the Jan. 17 crash, is admissible. Attorneys argued her blood tests - which showed no intoxicants - are more reliable.

...Young, 28, faces a 25-count indictment, including charges of assault and wanton endangerment, stemming from the Jan. 17 incident.

She is being held in the Grant County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond.

Her attorneys were seeking to suppress her urine tests results, which investigators said showed she had a barbiturate, a narcotic, marijuana and cocaine in her system the morning of the crash. They said the drug test on her urine should not be allowed at her trial since the results contradict results of tests on her blood that day, which they said are more accurate.

This from the Cincinnati Post.

Bus crash victim to throw 1st pitch at tonight's Reds game

Cody Shively, the 12-year-old who was the last victim of a Grant County school bus crash to leave the hospital, will get to throw out the first pitch at Friday's Reds game.

Shively was in intensive care for a month after he and 16 other students were injured on U.S. 25 in Dry Ridge when their bus went off the road and splintered a telephone pole on Jan. 17. He left Children's Hospital Medical Center on April 13.

This from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Five Suits now filed over Grant County bus crash

Lawsuits filed in Grant Circuit Court against Grant County school bus driver Angelynna Young allege she "had little or no sleep the night before" and was "under the influence of prescription and illegal substances" when she crashed her bus into a utility pole on Jan. 17.

The parents of 12-year-old Cody Shively name 21 Grant County School District officials and plan to investigate which school officials could be held personally liable for the crash. The suit claims school officials were negligent when they "ignored complaints" about Young's driving and allowed her to continue driving the bus. Young had no disciplinary actions or complaints in her personnel file but several parents of injured students had told The Enquirer that they complained to the school several times about Young's driving.

After the crash, state police found 41 bottles of prescription drugs in Young's home. She has been charged with two counts of first-degree assault, 15 counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, three felony drug charges and five misdemeanor drug charges.

This from Brenna R. Kelly of the Cincinnati Enquirer...and this.

June Trial Date for Grant Co Bus Driver

Angelynna Young, 28, faces a 25-count indictment, including charges of assault and wanton endangerment, from a Jan. 18 school bus wreck in Grant County that injured 17 students. Court records show that Young, the driver, took blood tests after the crash which indicated she had several drugs, including cocaine, in her system. One student remains hospitalized from the incident. The full story from the Kentucky Post.