Paramus school bus crash driver Hudy Muldrow pleads guilty, could spend 10 years in prison

William Westhoven | Morristown Daily Record

Show Caption Hide Caption Paramus school bus driver pleads guilty Former Paramus school bus driver Hudy Muldrow accepted a plea deal of up to 10 years in prison for charges related to the tragic 2018 bus crash in Mount Olive that killed a teacher and a student.

MORRISTOWN — School bus driver Hudy Muldrow will spend up to 10 years in prison after taking a plea deal Monday in connection with the Route 80 crash last year that killed a Paramus teacher and a fifth grade student.

With family members of the victims in the courtroom, Muldrow, 79, admitted to recklessly "driving the bus sideways" across three lanes of the highway in May 2018 after missing the exit in Mount Olive for historic Waterloo Village during a field trip.

As Muldrow attempted to make an illegal U-turn, the bus collided with a dump truck and flipped over. The force of the crash sheared the bus cab from the chassis and killed Miranda Vargas, 10, and Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy, 51. Forty other passengers and the driver of the truck were also injured.

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Asked whether she was satisfied with the outcome, Williamson-Kennedy's mother, Dolores Williamson, said after the hearing, "I'll never be satisfied with anything. It's been a tragedy going through this."

Muldrow slumped back and quietly replied "guilty" to each count as it was read in state Superior Court.

The driver pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree reckless vehicular homicide, five counts of fourth-degree vehicular assault by auto, one count of third-degree endangering the welfare of a child and a disorderly persons assault by auto summons. He had faced dozens of counts before the deal was reached, with a trial tentatively set to start in January.

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His agreement with prosecutors calls for a sentence of 10 years in state prison — five years for each of the reckless vehicular homicide charges, which would run concurrently but would be subject to a mandatory minimum of 85 percent of the sentence.

Four more one-year terms would be added for the assault charges, to run concurrently with each other but consecutive to the five-year term. Finally, the deal calls for another four-year term for the endangering count.

Judge Stephen Taylor set a sentencing date of Feb. 6.

The Paramus school district still faces the prospect of dozens of lawsuits related to the accident.

Muldrow has “taken responsibility for the damages and the suffering that the families have incurred," said Marc Saperstein, an attorney who represents six of the crash victims and their relatives. "Now it’s time to complete the circle of justice for the families by having those involved in the hiring, training and supervising of Mr. Muldrow take responsibility.”

Saperstein said most of his clients are still under some form of medical treatment and still suffer from flashbacks, depression and anxiety.

The Paramus Board of Education did not immediately respond to messages.

“For quite a while the town has been healing,” Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera said in an interview Monday. "Hopefully this is one step closer towards closure.”

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Staff Writer Tom Nobile contributed to this article.

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com Twitter: @wwesthoven