Athens ISD Bus Driver In Fatal Crash Indicted

Henderson County District Attorney Mark Hall issued the following statement :

John Franklin Stevens, 78, of Mabank, was charged by two separate indictments rendered by a Henderson County grand jury for injury to a child causing serious bodily injury and Manslaughter/Criminally Negligent Homicide.

The charges stem from a January 25, 2019 collision between an Athens Independent School District bus operated by Mr. Stevens while transporting two children, and a Union Pacific freight train as it passed through the city of Athens.

A 13-year-old boy was killed, and a nine-year-old girl was injured in the accident that occurred at approximately 4:00 pm on a Friday after school.