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Chattanooga bus driver to be arraigned in crash that killed 6 children

Posted at 7:41 AM, Mar 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-24 07:41:46-04

A Tennessee school bus driver involved in a bus crash that killed six children last year will be arraigned Friday.

Woodmore Elementary School bus driver Johnthony Walker has been arrested and charged with multiple counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving, according to Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher.

Six children between ages 6 to 10 died while more than a dozen others were injured in the crash in Chattanooga in November.

Driver Johnthony Walker faces various charges, including six counts of vehicular homicide. He also faces four counts of reckless aggravated assault, one count of reckless endangerment, one count of reckless driving and one count of use of a portable device by a bus driver.

Police have said Walker was driving well over the 30 mph speed limit when the school bus swerved off a street, toppled on its side and slammed into a tree on November 21.

The bus was carrying 37 students from Woodmore Elementary School in Chattanooga.

Walker’s mother, Gwenevere Cook, said her son was a respected man and the father of a 3-year-old boy.

“He is a marvelous son. For two years he worked two jobs. He’s never been in trouble before,” Cook said.

He will be arraigned at the Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office.