Police and medics were called shortly after 7:30 a.m. Dec. 19 to Emerson Academy, a charter school at 501 Hickory Ave., on a report that a DPS bus driver had been assaulted.
“The defendant drove her car next to the bus, entered it, angrily accusing the driver of purposely … not picking her son up and taking the son to school. Instantly, the defendant started attacking the victim by striking her face with a closed fist. This occurred only seconds after the defendant arrived and as the students watched all of this in horror,” Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said during a Dec. 29 media briefing announcing Franklin’s indictment on one count of felonious assault.
The children had just gotten off the but but were standing in front of it while the driver was attacked, he said.
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
The driver, a 45-year-old woman, suffered a fractured orbital bone and a broken nose after Franklin repeatedly punched her in the face, court records state.
“(The driver) experienced pain for months and required treatment from a neurologist, a plastic surgeon, and eye doctor and a psychiatrist. (The driver) has also been experiencing weekly migraines since this incident,” stated a sentencing memorandum filed by the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Whitney Crim requesting the judge impose a prison sentence.
David Lawrence, then DPS interim superintendent, previously said Franklin’s children were not at the bus stop when the driver arrived.
“After waiting approximately one minute with no sign of the children, the driver closed the door and proceeded with the route. After reviewing all available footage, the district can conclude the driver did nothing wrong and followed all district protocols,” he said.
Franklin thought the driver missed her children’s bus stop, which happened before and led to complaints to the school transportation department, her attorney Kyle Lennen stated in a court document.
Franklin’s attorney said while his client acted in “very regrettable and unfortunate manner,” she was deserving of probation because she has genuine remorse for the harm she caused, she had no criminal history and has suffered the loss of her career in the health care field and will not be able to return to that position, the filing stated.
“Mrs. Franklin would like the opportunity to show that she is a valuable member of society and that she is truly not the version of herself that acted in that matter,” Lennen stated.
Following Franklin’s sentence, she was booked into the Montgomery County Jail awaiting transport to prison.
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