MARION COUNTY, Fla. — The driver of a Ford Ranger pickup truck involved in a deadly bus crash in Marion County pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, June 18th, according to court documents.
Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, was charged with eight counts of DUI - Manslaughter for his role in the May 14th bus crash that took the lives of eight farm workers and injured 40 others.
According to previous court documents, he blew a 0.00 on two breathalyzer tests roughly eight hours after the crash but told troopers he smoked “marijuana oil” the night before. He was denied bond, in part because of previous traffic infractions.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office said they were called to the scene of the bus crash at 6:37 a.m. Tuesday, May 14th. The Florida Highway Patrol said the bus was transporting approximately 53 employees of a farming company.
FHP investigators said the two vehicles sideswiped each other, and the bus then went off the road, through a fence, and overturned.
According to the Associated Press, the busload of workers was en route to Cannon Farms in Dunnellon, which had been harvesting watermelons.
Cannon Farms closed after learning the news and asked the community to pray for the workers and their families.
Juan Sabines, a diplomat with the Mexican Consulate in Orlando, said the workers were from Mexico and were working in the United States using H2-A temporary agricultural visas.
“These are very good people. Young people. The youngest is 18 years old, and the oldest is maybe 40 years old. They stay in this country just for work," he told partner station WFTV.
Meanwhile, the Farm Worker Association of Florida described the workers as the unsung heroes who put food on American tables.
“It’s infuriating that they lost their lives due to negligence," said Karen Patricio with the Farm Worker Association.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
