The man who was convicted on six counts of criminally negligent homicide after crashing the Hamilton County School bus he was driving while texting in 2016 filed an appeal with the courts.
Johnthony K. Walker argues the trial court improperly denied him judicial diversion after his sentencing hearing. You may recall the school bus crash left six children dead and numerous children injured. Walker was sentenced to four years in prison and denied judicial diversion. According to the Knox County Courts where the appeal was filed, "Judicial Diversion is a type of expungeable probation for eligible offenders who plead guilty."
Despite the mans appeal, the Criminal Appeals Court agreed with the judgment imposed by the trial court.
After the bus crash in 2016, Walker moved to Nashville while on bond and awaiting his appeal. You may recall in 2018, he allegedly admitted to police that he had sex with a 14 year old girl in Nashville, thus landing him in more trouble with the law. The child was evidently a family member of the people he moved in with while in Davidson County.
In March of this year (2019), Walker was indicted on eight counts of statutory rape and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor for his alleged admittance to police of his involvement with the Nashville teen.
Due to the courts not expunging his record for the bus crash that claimed six lives, the statutory rape case won't be looked at as if he were a first time offender, which was the situation at the time of prosecution for the bus crash. The rape charges in Nashville, if found guilty, could mean a maximum sentencing of 12 years behind bars.
Bus Court Case: No. E2018-00936-CCA-R3-CD
