Bus Driver Charged In 2022 Crash That Killed Brandeis Student

WALTHAM, MA — The driver of a shuttle bus that crashed while transporting almost 30 Brandeis University students in November 2022 has been charged with vehicular homicide and speeding, Waltham police and the Middlesex District Attorney's Office announced.

Jean Fenelon, 58, of Boston, was arraigned Friday in Waltham District Court on the two charges and then released. The next court date is scheduled for February 2024.

Fenelon was operating a shuttle bus that was carrying Brandeis University students on Nov. 19, 2022. While returning to campus, Fenelon crashed on South Street in Waltham, hitting two trees.

An investigation found that Fenelon was driving the bus at 52 mph in a 30 mph zone and driving erratically before the bus left the roadway, striking the trees. The investigation also found that he failed to apply the brakes before the crash.

One of the students on board was Vannessa Mark, who died in the crash. Her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the transportation company, Joseph's Transportation, and Fenelon.

Mark and multiple other students were traveling back to campus from a hockey game at Northeastern when the shuttle bus they were on crashed into a tree on South Street.

The crash killed Mark and injured 26 other students. Students and the driver, who also suffered injuries, needed to be taken to area hospitals following the crash.

“The bus was totally destroyed, all the windows on the side were ripped open, and the front end was just totally smashed in,” Brian Belliveau, who lives near the site of the crash, told The Boston Globe at the time.