The truck driver who is accused of crashing into a bus carrying farmworkers, killing eight of them, had been involved in another crash just three days earlier and admitted to having taken a mix of drugs the day before, court records revealed Wednesday.
Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, was held without bail 24 hours after the crash and faces eight counts of DUI manslaughter.
Marion County Judge LeAnn Mackey-Barnes ordered Howard jailed until at least his next court appearance on June 18, citing his previous collision and history of leaving the scene of crashes as reasons for the decision.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Howard’s Ford Ranger traveled down the center line for unknown reasons before striking the bus carrying farmworkers. The bus then left the roadway, overturning through a fence.
According to NBC News, Howard told the highway patrol officers that he had been smoking marijuana through a vape pen with a friend on Monday, and before going to sleep on Monday evening, he’d taken prescribed medications Klonopin, Lyrica, and Clonidine.
The suspect, who lives with his parents, purportedly informed investigators that he woke up at 5 a.m. Tuesday and departed around 6:30 a.m. to visit a methadone clinic in Ocala.
Mackey-Barnes granted Howard’s request for a public defender.
During a news conference on Tuesday evening, Juan Sabines, the Mexican consul in Orlando, stated that all the victims were Mexican nationals in the United States on temporary agricultural worker visas.
Con pesar, confirmo muerte de 8 trabajadores agrícolas por accidente en #Florida; mexicanos, hombres, con Visa H-2A. De 44 accidentados, 7 están hospitalizados. Nuestro consul @Juansabinesg y @SRE_mx brindará todo el apoyo a nuestros connacionales y sus familias.
— Alicia Bárcena (@aliciabarcena) May 15, 2024
“With regret, I confirm the death of eight agricultural workers,” said Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena Tuesday in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
In addition to the fatalities on Tuesday, 40 individuals were hospitalized, with eight of them in critical condition, after the early morning crash.
Cannon Farms, the farm to where the workers were headed, was closed both Tuesday and Wednesday in light of the tragedy.