Crime
Jean Charles faces homicide and manslaughter charges in the April 28 crash that killed Lens Joseph.
Police walk around the school bus that struck and killed 5-year-old Lens Joseph in Hyde Park on April 28, 2025. Jessica Rinaldi / The Boston Globe, File
March 4, 2026 | 3:46 PM
1 minute to read
The driver of a Boston Public Schools bus that struck and killed a kindergartener in Hyde Park last year now faces homicide and manslaughter charges in the crash, prosecutors said Wednesday.
A Suffolk County grand jury has indicted 39-year-old Jean Charles on charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless motor vehicular homicide, and negligent motor vehicle homicide in the death of 5-year-old Lens Joseph.
Charles, a Brockton resident, is scheduled for arraignment March 26. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
A kindergartener returning from school at Up Academy in Dorchester, Lens had just gotten off the school bus with his older cousin when he was struck and killed April 28.
Prosecutors said Charles missed the correct bus stop, which would have dropped the children off on the same side of the street as their home. As Lens crossed Washington Street in front of the bus, Charles allegedly failed to ensure the boy made it across safely.
“Waiting only a few seconds, and without accounting for Lens’s whereabouts, Charles drove away and immediately ran over the child, causing his death,” the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Charles resigned weeks later amid revelations that he had an expired school bus certificate at the time of the crash.
A later probe of Boston’s school transportation found that Transdev, the company operating the BPS bus system, had an “insufficient” record-keeping system and “incomplete and unreliable” driver training files. Lens’s family sued Transdev and Charles last summer for alleged negligence.
“This was a careful and thorough investigation incorporating all available evidence, including surveillance footage from the bus camera and testimony from eyewitnesses,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said of Wednesday’s indictment. “The grand jurors gave full deliberation to the evidence presented to them and determined that Jean Charles must answer for the tragic death of Lens Joseph.”
Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.
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