‘We’ll forever miss you’: Lexington 2 student killed in SC bus crash remembered
Jose Maria Gonzalez-Linares, 13, was identified as the eighth grade student who was killed in a school bus crash that sent 38 people to the hospital the afternoon of Thursday, April 17.
Gonzales-Linares, who attended Pine Ridge Middle School in the Lexington 2 school district, was one of several students attending an eighth-grade field trip that included a visit to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. His spring break would’ve started the next day. He was described by one of the school’s parents as smart and was remembered in social media tributes and at a makeshift memorial at the school’s flag pole.
His was the only death from the crash that left a school bus on its side across multiple lanes of traffic on Interstate 77 in Chester County. The crash happened when one of the bus tires blew out coming back from the field trip, school district officials said. Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker released his name to the media around 11 a.m. Friday. Tinker confirmed that Gonzalez-Linares died of blunt force trauma at the scene and that first responders found him at the rear of the bus.
“Out of privacy and respect for the student’s family and the Pine Ridge Middle School community, no additional information will be released about the student,” the district said in a statement. Donations for those impacted by the crash are being taken up by the school.
Early Friday morning, members of the community gathered at the flag pole at Pine Ridge Middle School to honor those lost and injured in the crash.
Friday was the first day of spring break for Lexington 2 students. Class wasn’t being held at Pine Ridge Middle School, but a handful of colorful flower bouquets circled a flag pole at the entrance as students and their parents shuffled in and out of the school, where the school district was offering counseling services.
Multiple students from the small middle school of around 400 made online tributes to Gonzalez-Linares through their Instagram stories, using the hashtag LLJ, or “Long Live Jose.”
“Rest easy, we’ll forever miss you,” one student shared to social media alongside a photo of Gonzalez-Linares smiling and holding his thumb up.
Ashanti Thames, a parent whose son was riding behind the bus that flipped, said her 14-year-old son was friends with Gonzalez-Linares.
“That was one of his very good friends in sixth grade,” Thames said. “He was a smart kid, took AP classes. He really got to know him, it’s heartbreaking.”
The surviving victims from the crash have been released from hospitals, according to Lexington 2 officials.
Further information on the surviving victims’ conditions was not available, but as of Saturday all had been released from hospitals.
“Our focus since this devastating event has been, and will continue to be, our students, families, employees, and the entire Pine Ridge Middle School community,” Lexington 2 Superintendent Brenda Hafner said Saturday in a news release. “Our heart aches for the family of the student who is no longer with us. We are thankful to know others who were being evaluated and treated have now been released.”
Bristow Marchant and Noah Feit contributed to this story.
This story was originally published April 18, 2025 at 1:28 PM with the headline "‘We’ll forever miss you’: Lexington 2 student killed in SC bus crash remembered."
