Driver in bus crash that killed eight farm workers in Florida had been in an accident three days earlier, judge says

The driver of a truck that collided with a bus carrying farm workers, killing eight people, was involved in another accident just three days earlier, a Florida judge said Wednesday.

Bryan Maclean Howard, 40, was held without bail just over 24 hours after the crash, which led to him being convicted of eight counts of driving under the influence and involuntary manslaughter.

While sending Howard to jail at least until his next court date on June 18, Marion County Judge LeAnn Mackey-Barnes noted that the suspect “was in a car accident at least three days prior to this accident.”

“Given your driving history and your prior escape from the scene of an accident,” Mackey-Barnes said, she had no choice but to remand Howard.

In an arrest report obtained by NBC News affiliate WESH 2 in Orlando, cops said Howard told them after Tuesday’s crash that he was “driving very carefully” because he had been in an accident three days earlier. In that accident, cops said he told them he “wrapped his mother’s car around a tree.”

In addition to Tuesday’s fatalities, 40 others were hospitalized – eight of them in critical condition – following the early morning crash in Marion County, about 80 miles north of Orlando.

All eight of those killed were Mexican and all had H-2A temporary farm worker visas, according to Mexico’s foreign minister announced on X late Tuesday. The bus full of workers, carrying about 50 people, was en route to the family-run Cannon Farms in Dunnellon, WESH reported, citing the highway patrol.

During Wednesday’s brief hearing, Howard wore a prison smock and a bandage around his head. He held his shoulder or arms throughout Wednesday’s hearing.

Mackey-Barnes granted Howard’s request for a public defender, telling the judge that he earns $1,200 a month doing infrequent construction work and only has $100 in the bank.