Trial date set for man accused in fatal Athens school bus crash

ATHENS, Texas (KLTV) - A trial date has been set for Feb. 22, 2022, for the Athens ISD school bus driver, John Stevens, for the 2019 incident that left one child dead and another injured after the bus he was driving was hit by an oncoming train.

Stevens is facing charges of criminally negligent homicide and injury to a child.

Henderson County Judge Scott McKee said the attorney general did not appear for the last court date. Judge McKee added he left numerous voicemails and made over ten phone calls with no reply. The Office of the Attorney General responded the delay was due to a new, additional attorney general who started Sept. 1.

“It’s a 19 case. Since this case, this tragic incident, we’ve had a new DA that had to step down for reasons that are appropriate. We’ve had a pandemic, government has shut our courts down. We had one prosecutor from the AG’s office who disappeared on us and now have another, thank you sir for being here. So I’m going to set this trial for trial so we have a date to shoot for,” Judge Scott McKee said.

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