LAKE BUTLER, Fla. – The truck driver who investigators said caused a fiery crash that killed seven children from one extended family and injured others on a Union County school bus eight months ago has been charged with seven counts of vehicular homicide and homicide, along with 10 other charges, prosecutors announced Wednesday afternoon.
Prosecutors said driver Alvin Wilkerson's lack of sleep was the pivotal factor in deciding to bring the charges, which could each carry 15 years in prison.
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"I cannot talk about all of the details of the facts," State Attorney Bill Cervone said. "I can tell you the underly basis of this is a sleep depravation theory and how that plays into Florida law."
The crash happened Jan. 25 on state Road 121, four miles south of Lake Butler.
After impact, the tractor-trailer pushed the car into a back of the bus and the car burst into flames, killing all seven children in the car and injuring several of the passengers in the bus.
The Florida Highway Patrol and the National Transportation Safety Board announced that, other than a brief nap, Wilkerson, 32, had been awake for 34 hours prior to crushing the car that had stopped for a school bus that was unloading.
The NTSB refused to say whether Wilkerson had violated trucking laws that prevented him from driving more than 15 hours without an eight-hour rest period, but the parent of two of the children has sued him and the company he was driving for, Crete Carrier Corp.
NTSB investigators said Wilkerson was hauling bottled water from High Springs to Jacksonville and there was no evidence of drugs or alcohol in his blood.
In addition to the 14 felony counts, which each carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $15,000 fine, Wilkerson also faces 10 misdemeanor charges of culpable negligence -- one for each of the 10 people on the school bus who were injured.
Prosecutors said they spoke to Wilkenson's attorney and believe that he will surrender voluntarily. Cervone said he expects Wilkerson to be arraigned Oct. 18.
Prior to announcing the charges to the public at 3 p.m., Cervone and Union County Sheriff Jerry Whitehead met with family members of all seven of the victims.
"The wheels of justice grind slowly," Whitehead said. "There was a lot of impatience ... this was a real traumatic event, as everyone knows, but we assured, through all the policing agencies and the sheriff's office in total, that give this process and let it work it's way through."
Officials said 15-year-old Cynthia Nicole "Nicky" Mann -- one of the children to die in the crash -- was driving the car illegally because she only had a learners permit and was apparently picking up her siblings from school. Whitehead has said there was no indication that she did anything that contributed to the accident.
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Previous Stories:
- February 10, 2006: Mother Of Two Killed In Union County Crash Sues Truck Driver
- February 3, 2006: NTSB: Trucker Had Little Sleep Before Crash That Killed 7 Kids
- February 2, 2006: Union County Remembers Youngest Victim Of Crash
- February 1, 2006: Family, Friends Pay Last Respects To Cousins Killed In Crash
- January 30, 2006: Four Children Buried In First Of Four Union County Funerals
- January 27, 2006: Lake Butler Gathers To Mourn Children Killed In Crash
- January 27, 2006: Victims Of Lake Butler Crash Were Part Of Close Clan
- January 26, 2006: Grief Compounded: Crash Victims' Grandfather Dies Of Heart Attack
- January 26, 2006: 7 Children Killed When Truck Slams Car Waiting On School Bus
- January 25, 2006: Seven Children Die, Others Injured In Fiery Union County Crash