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School Bus Driver Jason Rynders Pleads Guilty To Criminal Vehicular Homicide

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (WCCO) -- A school bus driver pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide earlier this month after fatally hitting a woman in Brooklyn Park in March 2020.

Jason Rynders, 33, was driving a bus with children inside of it when he hit the woman, according to a criminal complaint.

He entered a guilty plea Wednesday, according to court documents, as part of a plea agreement that will cap his prison sentence at 48 months.

According to a criminal complaint, Rynders stopped the bus after hitting the woman near Humboldt Avenue North and Meadowwood Drive, then got back in and drove away.

Officials later identified the woman as 45-year-old Devon Doherty.

Surveillance video from a nearby home captured the bus hitting Doherty, as well as the bus leaving the scene. Rynders was seen on the video, according to the complaint, and children were visible inside the bus.

Rynders was driving for NorthStar Bus Company at the time. He told investigators he heard a noise and left his bus, but did not think he hit anyone.

Rynders will be sentenced in January.

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