School bus driver, 78, killed boy, 13, after driving into path of freight train

School bus driver, 78, killed boy, 13, after driving into path of freight train

John Stevens was recently charged with manslaughter after he stopped a school bus on train tracks be..

John Stevens, Joselyn Torres, Christopher Bonilla, Athens, Texas

John Stevens was recently charged with manslaughter after he stopped a school bus on train tracks before a train came, slamming into the bus and killing a 13-year-old boy (Picture: ABC News/WFAA)

An elderly school bus driver killed a 13-year-boy after he drove into the path of an oncoming freight train, authorities say.

John Stevens, 78, was charged with manslaughter Monday after the crash that killed Christopher Bonilla on January 25 in Athens, Texas.

Authorities say Bonilla was ejected from the bus and pronounced dead at the scene.

A nine-year-old girl, Joselyn Torres, was flown to a hospital in Dallas in critical conditional and was released on February 1.

Stevens, Torres, and Bonilla were the only three people on the bus at the time of the crash. Stevens was taken to a hospital after the crash and released the same day.

John Stevens, Joselyn Torres, Christopher Bonilla, Athens, Texas

The freight train pushed the bus approximately a quarter mile down the track before finally coming to a stop. Bonilla was found outside the bus and was pronounced dead on the scene (Pictur: KLTV)

According to the crash report from the Athens police department, the bus stopped just before it reached the tracks, which is required by state law.

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The bus then moved forward as the train was coming. A witness heard the trains horn just before the collision, ABC News reported.

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