The bus driver who hit and killed an 11-year-old boy walking to school in Jersey City last week "feels horrible" about the fatal crash.
Defense Attorney Edgar Navarrete said that his client, Raul Delatorre-Galaza, "broke down in tears" when they met ahead of a hearing where his bail was lowered from $50,000 to $30,000.
Delatorre-Galaza is accused of driving with a suspended license when he hit and killed George Gonzalez at Neptune Avenue at John F. Kennedy Boulevard on Friday morning.
"He feels horrible," Navarrete said. "Certainly it's a situation that's very tragic for those involved."
At the bail hearing Monday, prosecutors revealed that Delatorre-Galaza's commercial license had been suspended four times, while his personal license was suspended five times.
"He never should have been behind the wheel," one prosecutor said.
Navarrete countered by explaining that the suspensions were mostly for unpaid traffic tickets, and that his client didn't know about the most recent suspension until Friday's fatality.
Local
But Gonzalez's family said they think that the charges against Delatorre-Galaza should be upgraded to murder. Last week, Gonzalez's uncle told reporters that the bus was speeding at the time.
