JENNINGS COUNTY — An adult aide on a Jennings County School Corp. bus was killed Wednesday morning after a two-vehicle collision at State Road 7 and State Road 3 near Vernon. The crash happened at about 6:30 a.m., Indiana State Police said.
The initial investigation by the Indiana State Police-Versailles Crash Reconstruction Team indicated that a 2016 International School Bus, owned by the Jennings County School Corp., being driven by Robert J. Ringer, 72, North Vernon, was traveling south on State Road 7, said Sgt. Stephen Wheeles, Indiana State Police spokesman.
A 2013 Chevrolet truck, being driven by Harry T. Palmer, 48, North Vernon, was traveling north on State Road 7.
Palmer attempted to turn south on to State Road 3 in front of the bus, Wheeles said, resulting in the bus striking the passenger side of Palmer’s vehicle.
The bus came to stop in the middle of State Road 7, Wheeles said. Palmer’s vehicle came to rest just off the roadway.
A passenger on the bus, Mary Boyd, 74, North Vernon, suffered fatal injuries in the crash, Wheeles said.
She was transported to St. Vincent-Jennings Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Palmer and a passenger in his vehicle, Steven P. Graham, 44, North Vernon, were both transported to St. Vincent-Jennings Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Ringer was not injured in the crash.
Boyd was a bus aide who was riding on the bus route to monitor students, Wheeles said.
She had been employed with the Jennings County School Corp. as an aide for approximately 10 years. No students were on the bus at the time of the crash.
Toxicology results are pending and an investigation continues into the accident.
Assisting at the scene were the Jennings County Sheriff’s Office, Jennings County EMS, Vernon Fire Department, the Jennings County Coroner’s Office, and the Jennings County School Corp.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
