Fatal Brandeis Shuttle Crash Driver Has Next Hearing Postponed

WALTHAM, MA — A plea hearing for the driver in the 2022 fatal Brandeis shuttle bus crash has been pushed from this week until Dec. 16.

The hearing for Jean Fenelon, 59, of Boston, was originally scheduled for Wednesday. Fenelon faces vehicular homicide and speeding charges.

The Bostonian was the driver of a shuttle bus that crashed while transporting almost 30 Brandeis University students in November 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.