JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Wearing shackles, an ex-Jacksonville Transportation Authority bus driver went before a judge on Thursday, four months after he was accused of running over a passenger who died of her injuries.
Jean Marais Silney, 53, is being held on $500,000 bond. He's charged with manslaughter and vehicular homicide.
According to Asst. Chief Brian Kee, surveillance video shows Silney and the passenger, Jeanie Rozar, 50, arguing over the bus schedule. During a news conference Wednesday, Kee described Rozar exiting the bus, getting her arm closed in the bus's glass door, and the bus driving off at a rate of speed higher than JTA trains its drivers to travel.
According to Kee, the video shows Rozar running alongside the bus screaming and attempting to free her arm before she was run over by the bus.
Kee said that after seeing what happened, Silney "made comments making it clearly aware he knew it was happening. He also made a comment to the effect of 'Why did I do that?'"
Randy Reep, the attorney for Jeanie Rozar's estate and her 12-year-old daughter, spoke to News4Jax after Silney's arrest.
"I think everybody's thoughts are, this is just a terrible tragedy," Reep said. "It's very, very upsetting that there is loss of life and loss of a mother to a 12-year-old girl."
Reep said Rozar was the breadwinner for her family. He said that since her death, the small family has struggled.
"My clients still grieve tremendously. Her daughter is still young. Ms. Rozar was her primary caregiver, her one bit of solace," Reep said.
Reep told News4Jax he has not seen the surveillance video recording from inside the bus.
DeWayne Russell, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said he has seen the video and said Silney was inconsolable after realizing what happened.