MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com & AP) — A bus carrying farmworkers to a watermelon field in central Florida was sideswiped and overturned in a field, killing eight people and injuring dozens of others on Tuesday.
The accident prompted massive emergency response and shutdown State Road 40 in Marion County for more than 12 hours.
The man accused of causing the crash has a lengthy driving record and is being held in jail without bond.
The farmworkers were from Mexico, working on seasonal or temporary visas.
Here’s what to know about this week’s big story.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Around 6:40 a.m. on Tuesday, the Florida Highway Patrol says a 2001 Ford Ranger driven by Bryan Howard, 41, crossed the center line of State Road 40 and sideswiped a bus carrying 53 agriculture workers. The bus veered off the two-lane road that passes through Marion County’s horse country, hit a tree and rolled over.
The crash happened less than 10 miles from the fields at Cannon Farms in Dunnellon where the workers were headed to harvest watermelons.
WHO ARE THE VICTIMS?
All eight people killed were in the U.S. from Mexico on H-2A farmworker visas, officials said.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday morning that 44 Mexican citizens were on the bus, hired to work on the watermelon farm under temporary or seasonal visas. Mexico’s government later said six of the injured were in serious condition and three more were in critical condition.
Lucas Benitez, the co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, said Wednesday that it learned from the Mexican consulate that the farmworkers who were killed were from at least five different states in Mexico.
The dead have been identified as:
- Evarado Ventura Hernández, 30
- Cristian Salazar Villeda, 24
- Alfredo Tovar Sánchez, 20
- Isaías Miranda Pascal, 21
- José Heriberto Fraga Acosta, 27
- Manuel Pérez Ríos, 46
- Oscar Temoxtle Temoxtle, 31
- Santiago Benito De Jesus, 24
Gamaliel Marcel, of Tallahassee, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he and Salazar Villeda were childhood friends in Mexico. Salazar Villeda got married in March and the couple had a 5-year-old daughter, Marcel added.
“I feel so bad, especially because I knew him my whole life,” he said. “He was always the most respectful but brought out a smile when you needed it.”
Evarado Ventura Hernández’s mother, Rosalina Hernández Martínez, said Wednesday that her son had told her the work he did on Florida farms was “very hard,” but that he was happy.
“It hurts,” she said. “A piece of my heart is gone.”
The Mexican consulate in Orlando was providing support at the AdventHealth Ocala hospital, where many of the injured were taken.
Andres Sequera, a director of mission and ministry for AdventHealth hospitals, said chaplains were visiting the injured workers, and that they “were in good spirits for what they have been through.”
WHY WERE THE WORKERS IN FLORIDA?
Farms across Florida use about 50,000 H-2A workers each year, more than any other state, according to the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association.
The workers travel to Florida on seasonal or temporary visas to harvest farm fruits and vegetables.
They were hired by Olvera Trucking Harvesting Corp. The company offers a base pay rate of $14.77 an hour, with promises of housing and transportation to and from the fields.
The bus was on its way to Cannon Farms, a family-owned operation that has farmed its land for more than 100 years. The company focuses on peanuts and watermelons, which it sends to grocery stores across the U.S. and Canada. In addition to purchasing produce, people visit the farm to experience the petting zoo, hayrides and photos with its signature sunflowers.
The farm community of Marion County has rallied around the victims who’ve become known as “El Ocala Ocho,” their families and the owners of Cannon Farms.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE DRIVER ACCUSED IN THE CRASH?
Bryan Maclean Howard, 41, was arrested hours after the crash and remained jailed without bond in Ocala.
At a brief court appearance on Wednesday morning, Howard pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence-manslaughter charges in the deaths of eight farmworkers. He spoke by videoconference from jail.
An arrest report said Howard had bloodshot and watery eyes and slurred speech after the crash, which he told Florida Highway Patrol troopers he didn’t remember.
Howard also told investigators he had crashed his mother’s car into a tree a few days earlier while avoiding an animal. The report said Howard had smoked marijuana oil and took his prescribed medications before bed — two anti-seizure drugs and another for high blood pressure.
Five hours later, he said he was driving to a methadone clinic where he receives daily medication for a chipped vertebra.
Troopers arrested Howard after he failed several sobriety tests.
Howard told the judge he’s a self-employed painter and drywall installer. He said he had $700 in the bank, no other assets and no dependents.
On Wednesday, his head was bandaged and he wore a protective smock worn by inmates on suicide watch. The judge denied bond, appointed a public defender and set his next court appearance for next month.
Marion County court records show Howard has had at least three crashes and numerous traffic tickets dating back to 2006. He was cited previously for crossing the center line, and his driver’s license has been suspended at least three times, the latest in 2021 for getting too many citations within a year.
In 2013, he was convicted of grand theft. A year later, his probation was revoked after he tested positive for cocaine.
OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT
A memorial service for the victims was held Wednesday evening outside the Farmworker Association of Florida office north of Orlando in Apopka. About two dozen people gathered, some holding white crosses with the names of the people killed, and sang songs in Spanish.
“They were here to do honest work,” Jeannie Economos, an official with the Farmworker Association of Florida, said of the farmworkers. “Agricultural work is hard. They came here to work hard to support themselves and their families back in their home country.”
