KYLE — Community members have been encouraged to write letters to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, following the announcement that the driver who took two lives, including a 5-year-old Hays CISD student, will have a parole hearing April 19 — less than a year after his sentencing.
Jerry Hernandez was driving a concrete pump truck when he veered into the lane of a Hays CISD bus carrying Tom Green Elementary School students March 22, 2024. The bus was returning the students from a field trip at the Capital of Texas Zoo in Cedar Creek when it was struck, killing 5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya. Traveling behind the bus was Ryan Wallace, 33, who was also hit and killed by Hernandez.
Hernandez later admitted to smoking marijuana the night before and consuming cocaine 13 hours prior to the crash.
Fifteen months after the collision, he accepted a plea bargain agreement of 18 years for each of his two counts of manslaughter, to run concurrently. His sentencing occurred Sept. 18, 2025, in the Bastrop County Courthouse, where victims, including Wallace’s family and teachers, shared their stories.
Although the deaths caused by Hernandez cannot be reversed, community members are asking others to write letters in opposition of his upcoming parole hearing.
Hays CISD Board of Trustees member Courtney Runkle took to social media to state that the accident was avoidable, as it was the “result of a deliberate decision to operate a vehicle while impaired. When that decision involves a commercial vehicle and results in death, it demonstrates a profound disregard for human life and public safety … Now, there is a possibility that this individual could be released early. That is why your voice matters.”
She then asked that residents write to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to formally oppose the release of Hernandez.
Wallace’s sister, Diana Wallace, also stressed that she is “begging anyone and everyone affected by this crash to write a parole protest letter.”
According to Hays CISD Chief Communication Officer Tim Savoy, the district was not only shocked that Hernandez was up for parole, but has begun working on a letter to send to the Parole Board itself.
“Hays CISD leadership was surprised to learn that the man convicted of causing the crash into a Hays CISD bus and killing two precious souls is already eligible for potential parole so incredibly soon, given that he was sentenced to 18 years. We believe it would be a terrible injustice to all of the victims affected by this life-altering tragedy to consider releasing the person responsible. In addition to causing the deaths of pre-K student Ulises Rodriguez Montoya and [The University of Texas at Austin] doctoral student Ryan Wallace, who was in a vehicle behind the district’s school bus, the convicted’s actions and choices physically injured dozens of others on the bus and caused irreparable psychological and emotional damage to the entire community,” said Savoy.
Community members interested in writing a letter can send it to TDCJ — Victim Services Division, 8712 Shoal Creek Blvd., Suite 265, Austin, TX, 78757, or email [email protected], and include the following identifying information: Jerry Hernandez TDCJ #02593719.
Brittany Kelley
