The 17-year-old who died in a bus crash in Carroll County Monday hoped to go to college and become an artist, and smiled down others who bullied him because of an odd accent.
James Rashawn Walker was among 14 students who were riding in a school bus from Temple High School to a nearby vocational school when the bus overturned.
More than a dozen were rushed to various hospitals, and James was the only fatality, police said.
Known as "Ray Ray" to his friends, he had no car and was often seen walking around Temple, his hometown. He also spoke with an accent that invited ridicule from other students, his friends said.
"They didn't really know Ray Ray for who he was," said Justin Doty, 16. "They didn't know his potential in life. They just saw this kid who talked a little funny -- he had this little funny accent -- and they made fun of him."
Justin, a junior at Temple, said James loved to draw and was into anime, a Japanese form of animation. He aimed to go to college to become a graphic designer. "He didn't let nothing get in his way."
At about 1:40 p.m. on Monday, the school bus in which he was riding went off the road, into a ditch and overturned.
The bus had no obvious mechanical problems, and the driver was not suspected of using alcohol or drugs, said Georgia State Patrol. Sgt. Justin Howard. He said the driver, Kenneth Ross Herringdine, 59, of Roopville, was a trainee with a valid commercial drivers license and that another experienced driver was on board teaching him.
It's unclear why the bus went off the right side of the road, across a driveway, into a culvert and then into a ditch, Howard said. He said James was "partially ejected" from the bus, and was caught under it when it rolled.
All 13 of the surviving students were injured, said Schulenburg. Most were taken to three nearby hospitals -- in Carrollton, Bremen and Villa Rica -- where they were listed in "good" or "fair" condition immediately after the crash. Schulenburg said at least four were released by the evening.
The victims at those hospitals ranged in age from 15 to 45, said Kelly Meigs, a spokeswoman for the Tanner Health System, which operates all three.
Schulenburg said two victims were taken to Atlanta Medical Center. A hospital spokesman knew of only one patient there, who was listed in stable condition Monday afternoon. The spokesman could not say whether that patient was an adult.
The bus was ferrying the students from Temple High School to the College and Career Academy, a nearby vocational school, said Elena Schulenburg, a county schools spokeswoman. It crashed on Hwy 113 several miles south of I-20, near Hog Liver Road.
News photographs from the site show an axle separated from the bus, which lay on its right side.
Jonathan Gilreath, 15, a sophomore at Temple High, told the AJC that when he heard about the crash he frantically called two of his friends whom he thought were on the bus. One of them was not he learned with relief, but the other didn't answer the phone. Then, finally, that friend called him back and said he was fine, Jonathan said.
The boy told Jonathan that the bus flipped and that one of the students was killed.
Howard, the Georgia State patrolman, said the bus overturned after the driver ran off the road and tried to steer back.
Friends of James, the teen who died, said he was often the victim of bullying, but was good-natured about it. He kept a smile on his face, said his friend Billy Gabbert, who graduated from Temple High last year.
He said James walked everywhere in Temple because he had no car.
Gabbert said James was a magnet for cruel treatment. "Everybody made fun of him at school," he said. "Everybody just made fun of him, teachers and all that made fun of him."
But James would just smile back at them. "He was still going to be your friend [no matter] how mean you're going to be to him," Gabbert said. "All he wanted was to go to college and be a graphic art designer."
Justin, Gabbert and several other youths said a text message went out school wide to encourage students to wear black Tuesday. They said they also were planning a candlelight vigil Tuesday evening.
Temple Mayor Rick Ford said the crash was devastating.
“Like any small community, it’s just gut wrenching because we’re close knit, and we just … we hate to see anything like this happen, especially to children," Ford told AM 750 and now 95.5FM News/Talk WSB.
"It just tears your heart apart,” he said.
Around 4 p.m., as school let out, students were climbing aboard buses or getting into their parents' cars.
One woman, crying, hugged a girl, and they got into a car and drove away.
Police plan to interview several witnesses, the bus driver and the passengers, said Howard of the GSP.
Bus number 1012 was new, made in 2010, and it was equipped with something that could prove key in the investigation, Howard said: a video camera.
He said police will review the recording and that it may reveal what caused the bus to go off the road.
“That’s pretty much the question right now,” he said.
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