Former CapMetro driver sentenced for 2019 cyclist death on UT campus

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A former CapMetro bus driver pled guilty last week to the 2019 death of a bicyclist on the University of Texas at Austin campus.

Mindi Stafford, 44, pled guilty Wednesday to criminal negligent homicide. She was placed on community supervision for seven years and sentenced to 250 hours of community service.

The deadly crash happened on San Jacinto Boulevard, south of 23rd Street, on Jan. 28, 2019. The bus and cyclist were both headed in the same direction when the crash occurred, police said. Police identified the victim as 39-year-old Anthony John Diaz.

Witnesses and passengers on the bus said she was behaving strangely and talking to herself moments before the crash. Police said security footage showed there were no cars parked near where Diaz was hit and also showed that Stafford’s brake lights didn’t come on until after the bus hit Diaz.

At the time, the UT police chief said 11 people were riding the bus at the time of the crash, and it’s clear that they saw Diaz before Stafford hit him.

Stafford was arrested in Bell County in March 2019 and charged with manslaughter. She remained at the scene after the crash and cooperated with investigators, police said.

Detectives also say they found a backpack that belonged to Stafford on the bus. The bag contained several medications, some of which have side effects causing drowsiness, confusion, dizziness and blurred vision.