Judge requests deposition of train conductor, engineer in fatal Athens school bus crash

HENDERSON COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - After more than an hour in court Monday, depositions have been set for two witnesses, the conductor and engineer who were on the train that collided with the Athens school bus in Jan. 2019.

Judge R. Scott McKee determined the witnesses’ depositions would be relevant and have been set for April 5 at 9 a.m.

The court had to decide if PTSD suffered by the train conductor Robert Ray outweighed the liberty of John Stevens, the bus driver charged with criminally negligent homicide, according to the judge.

The crash happened on Jan. 25, 2019, at the crossing on Cream Level Road in Athens. The bus had stopped before the crossing, and then Stevens drove onto the track directly in front of the westbound train, according to investigators.

Christopher Bonilla, a 13-year-old Athens Middle School student, was killed in the crash. Nine-year-old Joselyne Torres, a student from Central Athens Elementary, was injured when she was trapped inside the bus.

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