Background: The Davidson County Downtown Detention Center in Nashville, Tennessee (Google Maps). Inset: Johnthony Walker (Metro Nashville Police Department).
A former Tennessee bus driver who crashed and killed six children is now accused of attacking his ex-girlfriend and tripping her 4-year-old daughter when the child tried to run for help.
Johnthony Walker, 34, is in jail on charges of aggravated assault by strangulation, aggravated burglary, child abuse without injury, interference with an emergency call, and failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements, according to records reviewed by Law&Crime. He was booked in the Davidson County Downtown Detention Center in Nashville on Monday.
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In 2016, Walker was driving a school bus in Hamilton County, Tennessee. The vehicle carried 37 students from Woodmore Elementary School in Chattanooga, according to reporting from CNN at the time.
He was reportedly speeding 20 mph or more over the speed limit when the bus swerved, fell on its side, and crashed into a tree, nearly splitting the bus in half. Six children between the ages of 6 and 10 died, and more than a dozen others were injured.
Walker was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and ordered to serve four years in prison, a press release from Davidson County District Attorney General Glenn Funk stated in 2020. However, while his conviction was being appealed, he “admitted to having sex with a 14-year-old on five occasions.”
He later pleaded guilty to aggravated statutory rape and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
This week, Walker was arrested again. According to arrest affidavits obtained by Nashville NBC affiliate WSMV, on Thursday, he showed up at an ex-girlfriend’s apartment.
The defendant allegedly broke into her home, tackled her, and grabbed her phone as she tried to call 911. Authorities say he punched, kicked, and strangled the woman, and when her 4-year-old daughter tried to run for help, he tripped her and made her fall.
When police showed up, they reportedly found the woman with a fractured arm, as well as bruises and scratches.
The post Ex-school bus driver whose crash killed 6 children in more trouble after strangling ex-girlfriend and tripping her 4-year-old child who tried to run for help: Authorities first appeared on Law & Crime.
