Bus Driver Accused In Fatal Pedestrian Accident Appears In Court
FOREST HILLS (KDKA) - A bus driver accused of running over a woman is heading to jail, at least temporarily.
Ernest Brevard appeared before a judge today for his preliminary hearing.
He arrived for court with his wife and grandson as a free man, but he left in handcuffs. During his preliminary hearing, his bond was revoked.
The 71-year-old was led out of district court and loaded into a car headed for the county jail.
Brevard is facing several charges in connection with the death of 67-year-old Alberta Slaczka.
According to police, Brevard struck Slaczka with a school bus at the intersection of Greensburg Pike and Carl Avenue in Forest Hills.
Bevard allegedly took off from the scene, but returned to check out the victim before driving off again.
Slaczka died in the hospital a week later.
During today's hearing, police testified that Brevard admitted to the crime during questioning.
Brevard's attorney, Blaine Jones, focused a lot on the fact that there were other school buses in the area at the time of the crash.
"It's not for us to prove the case, it's for the Commonwealth to prove the case. But, there were three buses there and our bus, there was no evidence of anyone being hit," Jones said.
Police said when they arrived on the scene, Slaczka was bleeding from the mouth and had what appeared to be a tire mark across her stomach.
Hair found on one of the bus' wheels is currently being analyzed.
"I asked, as you guys heard, was there any blood found on the vehicle anywhere on the bus? No blood found on the bus. Was there any clothing, clothing collected from the bus? No clothing was collected from the bus," Jones said.
Brevard's wife was visibly upset at today's hearing.
Jones said the entire family is devastated.
"The Brevards are good people. This is a man who is 71-years-old and literally has no criminal history. You know what he has on his record? A 2006 red light violation, so that's outstanding," Jones said.
Brevard is set to appear in court again next month.
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