Lawsuits pile up for Hernandez

BASTROP – Lawsuits follow the company and driver of the cement truck involved in a collision with a Hays Consolidated Independent School District bus that killed a child and motorist.

Jerry Hernandez, 43, and his employer, FJM Concrete Pumping LLC, are now being targeted for litigation by the family members of those involved in the March 22 incident, according to reports by CBS Austin KEYE.

Hernandez, charged with criminally negligent homicide for the collision on Texas 21 that claimed the life of Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, 5, and Ryan Wallace, 33, was also responsible for sending 10 others with severe injuries to area hospitals.

The concrete truck veered into a lane of oncoming traffic and collided with the school bus, which was returning from a field trip to the Bastrop Zoo and was on its way to Tom Green Elementary School in Buda, according to a probe by the state highway patrol.

Deborah Serna, a Tom Green Elementary teacher on the bus, filed a lawsuit last week against FJM Concrete and Hernandez, seeking at least $1 million to cover medical expenses and time away from work. The filings also name Geico Texas County Mutual Ins urance Company, according to the reports.

The lawsuit claims Serna suffered at least four broken bones in her back and faces a long road to recovery. A second family has since joined the case, similarly, citing personal injuries.

According to KEYE documents, six Tom Green families have also come forward with a second course of legal action against the driver and his employer, stating the collision “forever altered the courses of all lives of those on the bus.”

Both lawsuits note Hernandez’s history of failed drug tests and criminal record.

Hernandez reportedly slept for only three hours, waking up at 12:30 a.m. the morning of the crash, and “admitted to consuming cocaine about 1 a.m. on the morning of the crash,” according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Courier.

Additional gathered reports from court filings show Hernandez had three previous positive drug tests in 2020, 2022 and 2023, and an August 2023 arrest warrant filed by Hays County Magistrate Maggie Moreno charged Hernandez with assault family violence impeding breath.

“He should have been removed from performing safety- sensitive functions at this point by the company he was driving for at the time,” the legal records said.

His Texas commercial driver’s license was still eligible in Texas, as state driver’s licensing agencies are not required to downgrade CDL statuses until November 2024, according to changes in the Federal Register.

Francisco Martinez, identified in court documents as the owner of FJM Concrete LLC, did not complete a background check on the driver, according to the report.

Martinez reportedly did not complete verification of Hernandez’s CDL or status through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse website, investigatory accounts state.

The report said Martinez did not know Hernandez had previous drug charges, and there were no mechanical issues with the cement truck driven on the day of the crash.

No legal action has targeted Tom Green Elementary or Hays CISD as of yet.