Minivan driver in fatal bus crash could face prison time

Because Joseph’s vehicular homicide charge is a felony, that elevates the involuntary manslaughter charge from a third-degree to a first-degree felony, Driscoll said.

Investigators said Joseph was driving a 2010 Honda Odyssey about 8:15 a.m. Aug. 22 in the 4100 block of Troy Road (Ohio 41) at Lawrenceville when his minivan went left of the center line into the path of an oncoming school bus with 52 students and the driver aboard.

The bus driver attempted to avoid the Honda by driving onto the shoulder, but the bus still collided with the minivan. The bus and van went off the side of the road, with the bus rolling over.

Aiden Clark, 11, was ejected and died on the scene, and another student suffered life-threatening injuries. About two dozen more children were injured and taken to area medical centers for treatment.

Joseph presented to law enforcement a driver’s license from Mexico, which was invalid due to his immigration status, which assistant county prosecutor Greg Morris said previously is under investigation. He also had an Ohio identification card.

“The crash was a result of (Joseph) driving left of center, striking the school bus, forcing it off the roadway, down an embankment where it overturned and came to final rest,” a court document stated.

Joseph was taken into custody at the Clark County Jail on Aug. 23.

Morris said last week that Joseph is registered as a Haitian immigrant in the state of Florida.

Joseph and his passenger in the minivan were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

All children who were hospitalized following the incident have been released.

Funeral services were held for Aiden on Monday, and 37 buses from across the state from as far away as Trumbull County in northern Ohio lined the road around Fellowship Church.