Driver to learn jail sentence for causing deadly school bus crash
A man will learn his jail sentence after being found guilty of causing a deadly school crash.
News Center 7 will be in the courtroom for today’s sentencing and will have a full recap beginning at 5 p.m.
News Center 7 was in court earlier this month when Hermanio Joseph, 36, was convicted by a grand jury of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide.
As News Center 7 previously reported, Joseph was on trial after he crashed a van into a Northwestern Local Schools bus on the first day of school last August.
11-year-old Aiden Clark was on the bus and died in the crash. Dozens of other students were hurt in the crash.
>>RELATED: ‘It was a disaster;’ Police chief recalls racing to scene of deadly school bus crash
Joseph testified that he tried to avoid the crash, but prosecutors pointed out data from the Ohio State Highway Patrol investigation showed he was speeding and did not brake.
After he crossed the center line, the data showed he made no attempts to steer his van back to the right and away from oncoming traffic.
As News Center 7 previously reported, his defense team showed a copy of his driver’s license from Mexico, which one prosecutor said was not valid in Ohio.
While on the stand, Joseph explained what he said caused the crash.
“It’s the sun that hit my eye, you know, that caused the accident,” Joseph’s translator translated to the court.
>>RELATED: Trial begins today for man accused of causing deadly Clark County school bus crash
Joseph also testified that it all happened too quickly for him to react.
“The road is very narrow and then, you know, as the sun hit, you know, I did not have the chance to make the right decision,” Joseph said through his translator.
Prosecutors said Joseph did not have a valid license, never made an attempt to get one in Ohio, but chose to drive anyway. They argued that it was negligence that led to Clark’s death.
