No Drugs, Alcohol For Texas Bus Driver
Preliminary autopsy results on the driver of a chartered bus that crashed near Dallas show no drugs or alcohol in his system.
A Kaufman County justice of the peace said Tuesday 51-year-old Ernest Sheldon Carter of Dallas died of multiple blunt force injuries.
Authorities were investigating what caused the bus to veer off the highway near Terrell, about 30 miles east of Dallas. Because there were no skid marks, officials were investigating the possibility that the driver fell asleep.
Carter had a criminal record for theft and escaping custody, Dallas County court records show.
A woman identifying herself as Carter's common-law wife told Dallas television station WFAA that Carter had recently undergone a medical checkup because of headaches and pain in his arm.
Meanwhile, hundreds gathered at a Texas church to sing, pray, and mourn for the five people killed in the crash on their way to a Louisiana church camp.
The bus carrying more than 40 children and adult chaperons to a religious camp in Louisiana slammed into a concrete pillar off Interstate 20 on Monday, killing four teens and the driver and injuring at least 36.
"I don't like what God did, but I'm not going to argue with him. I guess he was watching out for me," said 15-year-old survivor Marshall Thomason.
Several hundred gathered at Metro Church on Monday evening, and on Tuesday, officials had counselors available there and began a blood drive.
"The whole week is going to be a time of grieving, but I think we're holding on well right now," said Bob Mulima, Metro Church's associate pastor of evangelism.
One of the injured passengers, Kimber Lee Ray, 17, was discharged from a hospital Tuesday morning and went straight to the church to comfort friends.
"I just wanted to see how everyone was doing," she said. Wearing bandages on her leg and arm, she said she survived because she was lying down on the seat when the crash happened.
Eight hospitals treated the injured. Thirteen people remained hospitalized Tuesday; three of them, all teen-age boys, were in critical condition.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Tom Vinger said the teens killed in the crash were Michelle Chaney, 14, of Garland; Michael Freeman, 12, of Wylie; Lindsay Kimmons, 16, of Rowlett; and Amanda Maxwell, 13, of Plano.
Chaney was looking forward to her freshman year at Garland High School and the chance to sing in the school choir.
"I hugged her two times and told her to have a good time," said her father, Benny. "She was the only daughter I had."
Freeman, the oldest of four children, loved to read but "didn't wear his intelligence on his sleeve," said his uncle Robert Mabry.
Kimmons, a high school junior, was a flutist who received superior ratings in the University Interscholastic League solo and ensemble competition.
And Maxwell, who excelled in cheerleading, drama and academics, attended church without fail, morning and night on Sundays and Wednesdays. She taught Bible study and loved swimming so much her sisters called her "a little mermaid."
"If there was anybody that was ready to go, it was Amanda," her grandmother, Earlene Henry, told The Dallas Morning News. "She had her spiritual life together. She was quite a gal. She had a lot of potential."