Mother of Tenn. bus driver offers serenity prayer to victims
ATLANTA, Georgia -- Gwenevere Cook, the mother of school bus driver Johnthony Walker, called the CBS affiliate WDEF newsroom to offer her condolences to the families of the victims of the crash, CBS affiliate WDEF reports.
Her son has been charged with 5 counts of vehicular homicide and other charges from the wreck.
She talked to him just minutes after the crash, where he described a scene horrific scene of blood and children all around him.
He told her “I hope it’s not my fault.”
Cook says her son had been driving for the school system since August and described his dedication to the job.
She says he has “never been in trouble.”
The mother of one of the victims told CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann that Walker asked the children on the bus if they were ready to die.
“My daughter said right before the bus flipped that he was speeding around the curve and asked them ‘Are y’all ready to die,’”Jasmine Mateen told CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann. Mateen’s 6-year-old daughter was killed.
Officials have not confirmed or commented on Mateen’s account.