School bus driver who hit and killed 6-year-old at Chattanooga Valley Elementary identified

photo A child was fatally struck by a bus at Chattanooga Valley Elementary School.

The Georgia State Patrol has identified the school bus driver who hit and killed a 6-year-old at Chattanooga Valley Elementary School as Joel Lee Hitchcox, 50, of Chickamauga.

Hitchcox was pulling out of the school parking lot after dropping off children around 7 a.m. Monday when he hit Zachary Maximus Bryant. According to the crash report, released this afternoon, Bryant had walked in front of the bus before Hitchcox drove forward.

The crash is still under investigation. Bryant's funeral will be on Saturday morning, and the Rock Spring Athletic Association will host a candlelight vigil to raise money for the boy's family later that night.

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