A BPS bus driver has been indicted on counts of manslaughter and reckless and negligent motor vehicle homicide after hitting a 5-year-old student last spring, the Suffolk DA announced Wednesday.

“This was a careful and thorough investigation incorporating all available evidence, including surveillance footage from the bus camera and testimony from eyewitnesses,” said DA Kevin Hayden. “The grand jurors gave full deliberation to the evidence presented to them and determined that Jean Charles must answer for the tragic death of Lens Joseph.”

Jean Charles, 39, of Brockton, received three indictments from a Suffolk County grand jury Wednesday on three charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless motor vehicular homicide and negligent motor vehicular homicide.

On April 28, 2025, Up Academy kindergartner Lens Arthur Joseph was getting off the bus with his 11-year-old cousin on his way home in Hyde Park. Dropped on the wrong side of the street by the substitute bus driver, Lens was crossing in front of the bus towards his house when he was fatally struck.

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The DA’s office noted Charles “failed to perform the necessary safety protocols required of him to assure that Lens crossed safely to his home,” waiting “only a few seconds” before driving.

Lens’s family also filed a lawsuit against the driver and bus contractor Transdev for negligence and emotional distress over the summer.

Charles is expected to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on March 26.

— Developing