Tennessee bus driver convicted in crash that killed six children: report

(Reuters) - A Tennessee school bus driver was found guilty on Thursday of negligent homicide in a 2016 crash that killed six children, local media reported.

Johnthony Walker, 25, was convicted by a Hamilton County jury of six counts of criminally negligent homicide, 11 counts of reckless aggravated assault and seven counts of assault, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.Jurors also found Walker guilty of reckless endangerment, reckless driving and using his phone behind the wheel, according to the newspaper.The panel began deliberating on Wednesday afternoon.

At the time of the crash in November 2016, police said Walker was speeding on a winding road and using a cellphone before the bus veered off course, flipped on its side and hit a tree.

Walker was expected to be sentenced on April 24, according to the Times Free Press. Each count of vehicular manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Cooney)