FHP

MAYO, Fla. — One teenager was killed in an accident Friday morning involving a Lafayette County school bus.

The accident occurred at 7:41 a.m. on County Road 300, west of SW CF Hart Lane, near Mayo.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a Mazda pickup and the Lafayette County school bus were both traveling east on CR 300 when the pickup ran into the back of the bus.

The driver of the pickup, 17-year-old Chandler Lancaster, of Mayo, was pronounced deceased.

Three passengers in the pickup — 15-year-old Brennen Dewey, 17-year-old Kaili Dewey and 14-year-old Katlyn Ducksworth, all from Mayo — were transported to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville. Ducksworth was in serious condition, according to the FHP report, while both Deweys suffered critical injuries.

There were 23 students onboard the bus at the time of the accident and none were injured. 

Robby Edwards, the Superintendent of Lafayette County Schools, said the accident had an affect on everybody within the small community. 

Additional counselors, including those from Suwannee County, Dixie County and Taylor County, were on hand throughout the school day Friday and were planned for the beginning of this week as well.

“Everybody kind of pulled together and took care of the kids,” Edwards said, adding pastors and youth pastors from the local churches were also at Lafayette Elementary School and Lafayette High School on Friday. “Just tried to have people there for them if they needed someone to talk to.”

According to the FHP report on the accident, a witness traveling west on CR 300 observed the crash and stopped to offer aid and assistance.

A secondary crash occurred approximately 10 minutes later although there were no injuries in that accident.

“We tried to cover things the best we could,” Edwards said. “I think we were able to do that fairly well. Now just wait and see how things look throughout (this) week.”