AUSTIN, Texas — Multiple lawsuits have been filed against a concrete pumper truck driver and the company he worked for following last month’s deadly school bus crash in Bastrop County.
On March 22, an FJM concrete pumper truck crashed into a Hays CISD school bus on State Highway 21, killing 5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya and 33-year-old Ryan Wallace, who was driving in a car behind the bus.
The driver of the concrete pumper truck, Jerry Hernandez, is charged with criminally negligent homicide.
Latest court filing
In the latest lawsuit filed this week - the seventh overall - the family of Ryan Wallace is suing Hernandez and the CEO of FJM Concrete Pumping.
Wallace was driving behind the bus when it was hit by the concrete pumper truck driven by Hernandez. Wallace was killed after his car collided with the bus after it made contact with the concrete pumper truck.
Wallace's family is seeking monetary relief "in an amount significantly above $1,000,000." The family is also seeking a jury trial for Hernandez.
Six other lawsuits
The parents of 5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, who was killed in the bus crash, have sued Hernandez and FJM Concrete Pumping on the grounds of negligence.
The lawsuit accuses Hernandez of negligence for driving while under the influence, failing to keep a proper lookout and driving recklessly.
Investigators say Hernandez admitted to using cocaine the morning of the crash and he had failed drug tests in 2020, 2022 and 2023 but didn't go through a background check before working for the concrete company.
Wednesday's lawsuit is one of at least seven filed against Hernandez and FJM since the crash.
A pre-K teacher who was injured in the crash is suing Hernandez and FJM owner Francisco Martinez after reportedly suffering at least four broken bones in her back. She is seeking more than $1 million in damages as a result of her physical and mental suffering.
The mother of a child who was on the bus has also filed a lawsuit.
“Hernandez had a duty to act as a reasonable person would in the same or similar circumstances,” the lawsuit states. “Hernandez breached this duty and was negligent when he decided to operate his vehicle in an unsafe manner, failed to maintain a safe speed, crossed into a lane designated for travel in the opposite direction, took faulty evasive action, drove while intoxicated, and failed to keep a proper lookout.”
A third lawsuit on behalf of six students involved in the crash was filed on Monday, April 8. The parents of the students also allege negligence from Hernandez and Martinez.
“The subject collision claimed the life of two innocent people, including one child, a forever altered the courses of all lives of those on the bus,” the lawsuit said.
A fourth lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, April 16, by a teacher who was injured in the crash.
Also on Tuesday, April 16, a similar lawsuit was filed by a group of seven students and one parent, including survivors injured in the incident. The plaintiffs' attorney, Jason Feltoon said these kids and parent sustained some of the worst injuries on the bus. They were sitting next to Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, the boy who was killed. Feltoon said three of his plaintiffs had to be airlifted out of the scene.
"These children suffered both physiological and emotional damages," Feltoon said. "It will be some time before they return to their normal lives."
The parents of 5-year-old Rodriguez Montoya filed their lawsuit, believed to be the sixth, also late Tuesday night in Bastrop County.
The lawsuit states that Hernandez, "owed ... All the occupants of the school bus a duty to exercise the degree of care that a reasonably careful person would use to avoid harm."
Will the school or Hays CISD get involved?
Earlier this month, Hays CISD released a statement showing support for the first lawsuit filed and the victims of the crash:
"Hays CISD is aware of the lawsuit filed against FJM Concrete and its pumper-truck driver. The school district and the entire community stands with the victims in the bus crash. The district further concurs with the sentiment captured in the lawsuit’s description that this crash has wreaked, 'havoc and destruction on the best and most innocent in our world,' and that the allegations of the level of negligence that are presented against the defendants in the suit, 'truly shocks the conscience.'"
"This will be the first of many actions to come. This crash is a life-taking and life-changing catastrophe; and, it is the district’s fervent hope that all of the victims can be made as whole as possible through both the criminal and civil processes that are unfolding."
On April 17, the district added that it hasn't ruled out any possible future legal action of its own, but that its insurance carrier is currently handling the matter as an insurance claim "for both the damages to the bus and also for possible reimbursement to the workers’ compensation fund that has covered medical expenses for the adults [who are all staff] on the bus."
What happens next?
Since it's probable that more lawsuits will be filed, Feltoon said a judge will likely combine them.
Typically with these type of injury cases – especially with the publicity this one has received – Feltoon said they will just settle. Only about 1% of these cases actually go to trial, but he said that is something his plaintiffs would be very pleased to see.
"I know the families that I represent, they want their day in court," Feltoon said. "They want a jury of their peers to hear their story."
The lawsuit filed by Montoya's parents' lawsuit also demanded a trial by jury.