Tom Green Elementary School teacher Deborah Serna was among those injured in the deadly crash.
BASTROP COUNTY, Texas — A pre-K teacher injured in a Bastrop County school bus crash is now suing the owner of a cement truck company along with the driver.
The crash happened in March when concrete pumper truck driver Jerry Hernandez veered into a school bus filled with pre-K students who were returning from a field trip at the Bastrop Zoo.
The incident killed 5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya and 33-year-old Ryan Wallace, the latter of whom was driving a vehicle behind the school bus, and injured multiple others.
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Now, one of the teachers on the bus, Deborah Serna, is suing Hernandez along with Francisco Martinez Jr., the owner of FJM Concrete, LLC.
Serna was among those injured on the day of the crash, when 42-year-old Hernandez, who allegedly admitted to using cocaine the morning of the crash, caused the fatal incident. Hernandez also allegedly admitted he only slept three hours the night before.
According to a petition filed by Serna’s lawyer, she suffered at least four broken bones in her back because of the crash and is now left to finance medical expenses.
“Yet true to her character, Serna wanted to make sure her students were safe and helped students off the bus before medics examined her injuries,” the lawsuit stated.
Now, Serna will have to undergo rehabilitation before reentering the Hays CISD system. She is seeking more than $1 million in damages as a result of her physical and mental suffering.
School bus crash updates continue
Since the crash first happened, Hernandez has been arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide.
He also previously tested positive for drugs in 2020, 2022 and 2023, according to an affidavit obtained by KVUE.
It has also been uncovered that Martinez Jr. did not perform a background check or verify commercial driver’s license validation before hiring Hernandez.
Additionally, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) launched an official investigation Monday to learn more about the deadly crash.
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