Two Men Dead in Crash Involving Charter Bus from Brook Hill School

TYLER — Two men are dead following a head-on crash early Sunday on Toll 49 in Tyler involving the men’s pickup and a charter bus from Bullard’s Brook Hill School. 22-year-old driver Jeffrey Dalton Aynesworth of Rusk and 24-year-old passenger Payton Joseph Raymond of Flint were dead on police officers’ arrival. Police got the call shortly after 4 a.m. about the crash, a quarter-mile east of Broadway. The bus was returning from a trip to Orlando, Florida, with 32 people on board, including 25 students. Among the bus occupants, the driver, two other adults, and two students went to the hospital with minor injuries.

Police say according to all immediate witness accounts, the eastbound pickup traveled into the westbound lane and knocked the bus off the roadway. Parents arrived to pick up their loved ones, and several health and public safety agencies assisted. The investigation continues. Toll 49 between Broadway and Paluxy was shut down following the accident but later reopened.