BUDA, Texas — Officials have identified the victims of Friday's deadly school bus crash in Bastrop County.
On March 22, a bus carrying pre-K students from Tom Green Elementary School in Buda was struck by a concrete pumper truck on State Highway 21 in Bastrop County, causing the bus to roll over. The students were returning from a field trip to the Bastrop Zoo.
Dozens of students were inside the bus at the time of the crash that left a boy dead. A Dodge then crashed into the bus from behind, killing the driver of that vehicle.
Now officials have identified the victims as 5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya and 33-year-old Ryan Wallace.
According to the district, Rodriguez Montoya loved his family, dinosaurs, the color green and going to school. Wallace was not a part of the field trip or affiliated with the school district, but he was a Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin.
"Ulises was a child who was filled with a lot of happiness and he often shared it with others," Naira "Dina" Solís Shears, Rodriguez Montoya's pre-K bilingual teacher, said. "He had a talent for drawing and his favorite thing to draw was dinosaurs. He could almost completely spell the word dinosaur, which demonstrates how smart he was. He always had a dinosaur drawn on all of the assignments he turned in. He liked to tell stories and shared many with his friends and family. Above all – he was a loving child."
Hays CISD said Rodriguez Montoya's family is grateful for the support they have received from the community and people all over the world. At this time, they are welcoming visits from friends and family but are asking for privacy from others.
The district said Rodriguez Montoya is survived by "by a loving and supportive family, including his parents and siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and lots of cousins, who will miss him dearly."
Funeral and memorial services are still pending.
As of Monday evening, all students have been released from the hospital, according to the school district. One early childhood education teacher at Tom Green Elementary remains in the hospital, but the district said her physical recovery will take time.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Rodriguez Montoya's family with funeral expenses. In addition, a general Tom Green Elementary GoFundMe has been set up to help everyone involved in the crash with medical and other unanticipated expenses.
KVUE has been covering updates on this crash since it happened. See our previous coverage below:
- 'All I was thinking was just him flying around the bus' | Mother of pre-K student in Bastrop school bus crash recalls horrifying moments
- 'Tom Green has a very special place in my heart' | Central Texas community rallies in support of Tom Green Elementary after school bus crash
- Principal of Tom Green Elementary releases statement, provides information following deadly bus crash that killed 2
- 'I am heartbroken' | Hays CISD superintendent, others react to deadly Texas school bus crash
- DPS: 2 dead after cement truck veers into Hays CISD school bus in Central Texas
- Fatal school bus crash the latest in a series of wrecks that have plagued Highway 21 east of Austin