Investigators said Joseph was driving a 2010 Honda Odyssey about 8:15 a.m. Aug. 22 in the 4100 block of Troy Road (Ohio 41) at Lawrenceville when his minivan went left of the center line into the path of an oncoming school bus with 52 students and the driver aboard.
The bus driver attempted to avoid the Honda by driving onto the shoulder, but the bus still collided with the minivan. The bus and van went off the side of the road, with the bus rolling over.
Aiden Clark, 11, was ejected and died on the scene, and another student suffered life-threatening injuries. About two dozen more children were injured and taken to area medical centers for treatment.
Joseph presented to law enforcement a driver’s license from Mexico, which was invalid due to his immigration status, which assistant county prosecutor Greg Morris said previously is under investigation. Joseph also had an Ohio identification card. The man is originally from Haiti.
County and nonprofit leaders have worked since to better educate Springfield’s Haitian immigrant population on how to obtain driver’s licenses and on the rules of the road. This culminated in a state effort to provide classes and resources in Haitian Creole.
Joseph’s attorneys previously filed motions to dismiss the case and to move it outside of Clark County. Lawyers Terry Hart and Cathy Weithman argued that on the first offense, a crime of driving without a valid license is a minor misdemeanor, and that it would be “impossible to seat an impartial jury due to media and other publicity. Judge Douglas Rastatter denied the motions.
Since the crash, numerous citizens have voiced concerns about the growing Haitian immigrant population in the area. Much of this happened at Springfield City Commission meetings, leading Aiden’s parents, Nathan and Danielle Clark, to email a statement to now-Mayor Rob Rue, asking for their son’s name to not be associated with citizen protests.
“We do not want our son’s name to be associated with the hate that’s being spewed at these meetings,” Nathan and Danielle Clark wrote. “Please do not mix up the values of our family with the uninformed majority that vocalize their hate. Aiden embraced different cultures and would insist you do the same. Thank you to the community for the continued support.”
Thousands of Haitian immigrants have come to the city in recent years. Estimates range from 7,000 to 10,000 Haitians now living in Springfield.
According to Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE), cases of undocumented Haitians in Springfield are almost nonexistent, with almost all immigrants having entered legally.
In November, the Ohio Department of Transportation added rumble stripes to Troy Road (Ohio 41) to alert drivers of potential danger by causing a vibration and rumbling noise when the strips are driven over. In this case, the stripes are on the center line and will alert anyone who crosses over.
The effort was spearheaded by Northwestern Local School District parent Jessica Wilson, whose sixth-grade son was on the bus during the crash.
Joseph has been in the Clark County Jail since his arrest in August.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
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