The 18-year-old driver who struck and killed a 13-year-old Reedsburg girl in May as she was boarding a school bus was texting while driving, authorities said.
Kevin Green, also of Reedsburg resident, was charged Wednesday with homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle for the crash that killed Evelyn Gurney in front of her town of Excelsior home on May 12, according to the state Department of Justice.
According to the DOJ:
Green was driving a red Ford F-150 truck west on Highway 23-33 toward Reedsburg just before 7:30 a.m. when he failed to notice a stopped school bus with its stop sign arm deployed. Traveling at around 63 mph, Green swerved right to avoid the bus but hit its right side before striking Evelyn.
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Green noticed the stopped bus when he was roughly 200 feet from it, according to a Sauk County Sheriff's Office deputy who interviewed him after the crash. The driver alleged in the interview that he did not know he hit anyone until he left his truck and joined first responders in attempting CPR on Evelyn.
One of the responders, a Reedsburg Fire Department member, was on his way home from work and was stuck in traffic behind the scene when he was paged to help, according to the complaint. He attempted CPR before other responders arrived.
The driver of the school bus told another responding deputy that he saw Evelyn and another student at the stop, according to the complaint. He felt the bus jolt when Green hit the rear of the bus then saw the victim lying in the ditch.
If convicted, Green faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
“We’re sorry that he’s also having to go through the grief he is,” Evelyn's father, Brian Gurney, said. “We hope that he can try to grow from this and not let it ultimately affect him for the rest of his life.”
Reporter John Gittings can be reached via phone at (920) 210-4695.
