HOUSTON – The driver of a METRO bus that hit and killed a woman Wednesday appeared in court early Thursday.
According to authorities, Octavio Martinez, 58 has been charged with criminally negligent homicide after police say he hit and killed a woman in the Cypress Station area near the intersection of Red Oak and FM Road 1960.
The victim got off one METRO bus when another one turned on to the street, drove around the first bus and hit the woman, police said.
"That bus was traveling in the wrong lane on a two lane road driving past a bus that was disembarking passengers and struck one of those passengers. That's a gross deviation from what a bus driver should be doing especially when they're operating a 40,000 pound bus," said Sean Teare, chief of the D.A.'s office vehicular crimes division.
According to police, the driver said he did not see the woman, who witnesses say worked at a nearby day care.
"She was very sweet with all the kids like the parents they love her, the babies she used to play a lot with the babies it's a big loss,"said Jasmine Padilla, director of Little Stars Daycare.
“I see this bus – the man that hit her – come around, then go around the parked bus and runs her over,” said a witness who wants to conceal her identity. “I grabbed my son, I went to the other bus we just got off of and I was like ‘He hit her! He hit her!’"
The woman told KPRC2 reporter Cathy Hernandez she rode the bus with the victim every day, saying she was a sweet person and occasionally gave her money for the bus.
METRO spokesperson Tracy Jackson said the driver didn't see the woman.
“Apparently he didn't see her,” Jackson said. “He didn't realize until after the fact that he felt like he may have struck something and then he asked the first operator for assistance, which is why he pulled alongside the first bus.”
The witness said told KPRC2 that if it weren't for her, the driver may not have stopped at all.
“They’re saying that he didn't see her,” the witness said. “That street is already dark, the street is dark all day every day. There is no reason you should be (driving) on the opposite side of the street speeding through here.”
Martinez had worked as a METRO bus driver for 27 years, according to METRO.
Both buses have surveillance cameras. Video from the cameras will be reviewed as part of the investigation.
Martinez did not appear before a judge during Thursday's hearing since he had already posted a $1,000 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Friday.