Minnesota mourns.

Woman charged in fatal bus crash; she's using alias, in U.S. illegally

Woman who gave her name as Alianiss Nunez Morales

By CHAO XIONG, Star Tribune

COTTONWOOD, MINN. -- The van driver involved in the school bus crash in southwestern Minnesota that killed four students was charged today, and federal authorities say she is using an alias and in the United States illegally.

The woman, who is using the name Aliannis N. Morales, is charged with four counts of criminal-vehicular homicide, running a stop sign and driving without a license at the time of the crash Tuesday afternoon near Cottonwood.

Lyon County Attorney Richard Maes confirmed today that the woman ran a stop sign when she hit the bus, which then fell onto a pickup truck. The truck driver, James Hancock, of Marshall, told the Star Tribune that the van ignored the stop sign.

The woman has a court appearance scheduled for 11:30 this morning.

Federal immigration investigator Claude Arnold said that Morales is not the woman's name, and she is not revealing her real name. He added that she is in this country illegally, probably from Mexico.

Federal immigration spokesman Tim Counts said that the woman has been of "minimal helpfulness" to investigators, but "we will get to the bottom of matters."

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Lakeview School, where the students attended, will be closed Monday for the funerals of brothers Jesse Javens, 13, and Hunter Javens, 9, both of Cottonwood. Also killed were Reed Stevens, 12, of Marshall; and Emilee Olson, 9, of Cottonwood.

There were 28 students on the bus. In addition to Hancock, eight children remained hospitalized Thursday in Sioux Falls, S.D., Marshall and Rochester.