21-Y-O Who Killed 13 in Church Bus Crash Pleads No Contest, Faces Up to 270 Years in Prison
Jack Dillon Young, the 21-year-old who was formally charged last June for a crash that killed 13 members of the First Baptist Church of New Braunfels, Texas, could now face up to 270 years in prison for his crimes after he pleaded no contest to manslaughter charges Thursday.
Uvalde County District Attorney Daniel Kindred told the San Antonio Express-News that Young pleaded no contest to 13 counts of intoxication manslaughter and one count of intoxication assault.
"He figured it would be better to put an end to it, for his sake and for the sake of the families in this tragedy," Young's defense attorney, Rogelio Munoz, told KHOU11.
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On March 29 at about 12:25 p.m., Young's pickup truck crashed into the church's bus carrying 14 members along U.S. Highway 83 North, just south of Ranch Road 1050 in Uvalde. The church members were a group of older adults who were on their way home from a three-day retreat at the Alto Frio Baptist Encampment. Rose Mary Harris, 64, of New Braunfels, was the lone passenger to survive.
Young, who confessed to texting while driving at the time of the crash, also told investigators that Clonazepam pills "make him sleepy" and he had taken Ambien, Lexapro and Clonazepam after leaving a Walgreens that morning.
He had been free on a $380,000 bond until early last month when he was jailed for violating the terms of his bond agreement, including testing positive for the active agent in marijuana.
Munoz told KHOU11 that it was unlikely that a plea deal will be offered to Young ahead of his sentencing in November.
"The DA has taken the position that all of these were victims and each one is a separate case involving a separate victim. He felt like he wanted a conviction in each case. The real issue, then, is what should the punishment be?" Munoz noted.
While some critics have publicly questioned why Young, who is identified in court documents as a sexual assault survivor, was taking so much prescription medication at the time of the accident, Munoz said these details would be revealed at the sentencing hearing.
Young's decision came as a relief to the families of the victims as he had previously entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.
"The fact that he has changed and stepped up and doing this, that's actually, in my opinion, generous on his part, because that means that cuts out a very long process we have to go through," said Charlotte Banks, daughter of one of the victims.
Jessica Melott of New Braunfels, whose mother, Rhonda Allen, 61, died in the crash, previously noted that no one is opposed to a sentence being proposed for young that is expected to fall between two and 270 years.
"I have not heard of anyone being opposed to this set number of years," she told My San Antonio, without revealing the exact number she expects to be recommended.
"I would be OK if he's in jail for the rest of my life. I don't think I'd be alive at the end the number the DA had, so I'm OK with it," the 43-year-old added.
