The driver of the truck that crashed into a bus carrying farm workers, killing eight people, had been involved in another accident just three days earlier and had been on a drug cocktail the day before. This was revealed in court records Wednesday.
Brian McLean Howard, 41, was ordered held without bail more than 24 hours after the crash, in which he was charged with eight counts of negligent driving causing death.
Marion County Judge Leanne McKee-Burns sent Howard to jail until at least his next court appearance, noting that the suspect had been in a “car accident at least three days prior to this incident.”
“Given your driving history and previous history of leaving the scene of an accident, we had no choice but to remand Mr. Howard into custody,” Ms Mackie Barnes said.
After being read his rights, Howard told a Highway Patrol officer on Tuesday that he had been smoking marijuana oil in a vape pen with a friend on Monday, according to a Florida Highway Patrol arrest report.
He also took prescription drugs Klonopin, Lyrica and Clonidine before going to bed after 11 p.m. Monday, officials said.
The suspect, who lives with his parents, allegedly told investigators that he woke up at 5 a.m. Tuesday and left around 6:30 a.m. to go to a methadone clinic in Ocala.
Around 11 a.m. Tuesday, he allegedly told Highway Patrol investigators that when he was asked about the accident, he didn't remember how it happened.
“He stated that he was driving very carefully because he had been involved in another accident three days earlier. In this accident, he was trying to avoid an animal that had jumped out in front of him, causing his mother's car to wrap around a tree. I put it on.”
A little more than an hour later, authorities said Howard's eyes were still bloodshot and he was said to have slurred speech as he spoke to Highway Patrol investigators at Advent Hospital in Ocala.
Highway Patrol officials said Howard could not remember how his truck drove into the wrong lane, hit the bus, and failed a breathalyzer test at the hospital.
In addition to Tuesday's deaths, 40 people were hospitalized, eight in critical condition, after an early morning crash in Marion County, about 130 miles north of Orlando.
All eight people killed were Mexican nationals and all held temporary H-2A visas for agricultural workers, Mexico's foreign minister said. Published in X Late Tuesday.
Family-owned Cannon Farms said a bus carrying about 50 employees was heading to its plant in Dunnellon. In light of the tragedy, the farm was closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.
During Wednesday's brief hearing, Howard wore a prison smock and had a bandage on his head. He held his shoulder and arm throughout Wednesday's trial.
Judge McKee-Burns granted a request by Howard's public defender, telling the judge that Howard earned $1,200 a month from infrequent construction work and had only $100 in the bank.
