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Bus driver who hit, killed Ill. firefighter to stand trial

The Associated Press

BENTON, Ill. — A judge in Franklin County says a Greyhound bus driver should face a trial in the death of a southern Illinois firefighter killed by the bus last summer on Interstate 57.

After a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Benton, 42-year-old Sammie Rogers of Chicago was ordered to stand trial on a reckless homicide count filed against him in March.

Authorities say the bus was northbound early on July 27th when it hit 43-year-old James Miller. Miller was a volunteer Sesser firefighter who had just helped douse a tractor-trailer blaze along the freeway.

Rogers and the 51 passengers on the Memphis-to-Chicago bus were unhurt.

Rogers also is charged with improper lane usage and failing to give emergency workers an appropriately wide berth.