SAN ANTONIO – The daughter of one of the 13 Uvalde County bus crash victims is calling for quick justice now that there is an indictment.
Jack Young, 20, is under arrest three months after he allegedly killed the 13 people aboard a church bus headed to New Braunfels.
Jenn Barrett recently wrote an open letter to Young, who the Department of Public Safety said killed Barrett’s father.
Murray William Barrett, 66, was driving the bus back from a church retreat outside of Garner State Park.
Only one of the 14 seniors on the bus survived the head-on collision.
Citing her faith, Jenn Barrett said she forgives Young but does want a punishment.
"At the same time, I understand the importance of justice in our society, and I don't in any way want to stand in the way of that," she said. "Mainly, I just hope the process goes quickly and gets wrapped up so that we don't have to keep dragging, dragging the process through and honestly causing a lot of trauma to the families who have already been through a lot."
Young turned himself in Wednesday evening. He faces 13 two-count indictments for intoxication manslaughter and manslaughter and one two-count indictment for intoxication assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing bodily injury.
Prescription drugs and marijuana were found in Young’s system, and a witness says he admitted to texting while driving.
Jenn Barrett said she hopes there is a plea deal and the civil trials are settled so the families can move on, but she said whatever the sentence is, it needs to send a message.
"Obviously, he's going to get a lot of jail time because of the situation and because of the publicity. It's a sad reality,” she said. “At the same time, like, whether it's 20 years or 40 years or 600 years or 100 years, like, I don't find any joy or any hope that it's this long forever sentence.”
"There's nothing that's going to happen in the court system that's going to bring my parents back," Jenn Barrett said.
Young is being held in the Uvalde County Jail. His bail is set at $380,000; he is due in court next month.
You can read the entire letter by clicking here.
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