$1 million lawsuit filed against concrete pump truck driver, company after deadly bus crash

BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) – A mother of a child involved in the deadly Hays CISD bus crash on March 22 – where a concrete pump truck veered into oncoming traffic, struck the bus and caused it to roll – has filed a lawsuit against the driver, Jerry Hernandez, who admitted in a police report he had used cocaine within 24 hours of the crash, his company, FJM Concrete Pumping, LLC, and the owner of the company.

The crash resulted in the death of a 5-year-old boy on the bus and a University of Texas graduate student driving in a vehicle behind the bus. It also injured several others on the bus including the mother and child who filed the lawsuit.

“Hernandez breached this duty and was negligent when he decided to operate his vehicle in an unsafe manner, failed to maintain a safe speed, crossed into a lane designated for travel in the opposite direction, took faulty evasive action, drove while intoxicated, and failed to keep a proper lookout,” the lawsuit, filed by Austin personal injury attorney Leigh Joseph, states.

“As a result of these failures, the collision at issue occurred. The liability of Defendants is clear and to assert otherwise is contrary to existing evidence,” the lawsuit continued.

KXAN reached out to Francisco Martinez, the owner of FJM Concrete Pumping, LLC, for a comment on the lawsuit. Attorney information for Hernandez is unavailable as of Monday. This story will be updated when we receive a response.

The plaintiffs in this case are seeking over $1 million in monetary relief for physical and emotional damages suffered in the crash.

This lawsuit follows one filed by a preschool teacher on the bus and her husband against Hernandez, the trucking company, the company’s owner and GEICO insurance company.

That lawsuit also seeks more than $1 million. The plaintiff in that case, Deborah Serna, was “severely injured” in the crash, suffering at least four broken bones in her back, according to the lawsuit.

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