Class-Action Lawsuit Filed In Deadly Baltimore Bus Crash

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The victims of the deadly Baltimore bus crash are taking legal action.

On the morning of Nov. 1, a school bus was traveling eastbound near the 3800 block of Frederick Ave. The school bus hit a Mustang, then struck a pillar at Loudon Park Cemetery. Finally, it hit the oncoming No. 10 MTA bus from Dundalk to Catonsville.

The school bus driver, Glenn R. Chappell, 67, and the MTA bus driver, Ebonee Danell Baker, 33, were killed in the crash, along with four passengers of the MTA bus -- Cherry Denise Yarborough, 51, Terance Lee Casey, 52, Gerald Holloway, 51, and Pattie Lynn Martinez, 46.

There were no children on the school bus at the time of the crash.

Attorneys filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of 14 victims, including a widower and a surviving passenger.

The victims want more than $10 million, according to our media partners at The Baltimore Sun.

"I can't really go back to work," says survivor Michelle Kennedy. "I tried to go and I couldn't do it, my body wouldn't let me. I get massive headaches."

"I lost my wife, my best friend," says the husband of the MTA bus driver, Ebonee Danell Baker. "My kids lost their mom."

After the crash, it was learned that Chappell, 67, had a history of troubling crashes and seizures — as a WJZ investigation previously found– and likely suffered a seizure that caused his bus to go out of control.

The National Transportation Safety Board documented Chappell's involvement in 12 crashes in five years, including passing out and crashing with a student on board, and leaving the scene of an accident.

The attorneys are blaming four defendants, including the bus company, AA Affordable Transportation.

Attorney Hassan Murphy says they failed miserably.

"To think that this tragedy could have been prevented had several key people simply done their jobs, and they didn't," he said.

Although an NTSB investigation found there were problems with how Baltimore Public Schools monitor drivers, the school system was not listed in the suit. The attorneys did not say why.

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