1
1
1
2
3
HOMER, LA — A 35-year-old Sterlington woman was killed Friday evening in a crash on Louisiana Highway 2 near Bella Vista Road in Homer after her SUV struck the back of a school bus carrying students, Louisiana State Police said.
Troopers with LSP Troop G responded to the two-vehicle wreck on November 6, 2026. The driver was in a 2023 Toyota Highlander traveling east when it collided with a 2018 Blue Bird Conventional school bus that was also heading east ahead of it.
State police said the woman was properly restrained but suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her name has not been released.
Investigators have not determined what caused the Highlander to run into the rear of the bus. The crash sequence suggests both vehicles were moving in the same direction when the impact happened, but police have not said whether speed, distraction or another factor played a role.
Louisiana State Police said impairment is not suspected in the crash. Even so, routine toxicology samples were collected and sent for analysis as part of the investigation.
The agency has continued to treat the case as an active investigation while troopers piece together what happened on the highway outside Homer.
The school bus driver was not injured in the collision, according to state police. No students on board were reported hurt at the time of the crash.
That detail sharply limited the scope of the incident, which otherwise involved a fatal impact between a passenger vehicle and a bus transporting children. Police did not identify the number of students on the bus.
Because no injuries were reported among the passengers, the focus of the response centered on the fatality in the SUV and the condition of the roadway after the wreck.
The wreck took place on Louisiana Highway 2 near Bella Vista Road, a roadway connection on the eastern side of Homer. State police did not describe any additional traffic impacts, lane closures or detours caused by the crash.
Highway crashes involving school buses draw immediate attention because of the children they carry, even when passengers are not injured. In this case, the school bus itself was moving ahead of the SUV when the rear-end collision happened.
The location and timing place the crash in early evening hours on a Friday, a period when traffic can include school-related travel as well as regular local commuting.
State police said routine toxicology samples were submitted for analysis, a standard step in fatal crashes even when impairment is not suspected. Those results could help investigators rule out potential contributing factors.
For now, officials have given only the basic facts of the collision: one vehicle, one bus, one fatality, and no reported injuries to the passengers on the bus. The case remains open.
Louisiana State Police did not release a timeline for completing the investigation or say whether any further findings would be made public after the testing is finished.
Confirmed details from Louisiana State Police show the victim was a 35-year-old woman from Sterlington, driving a Toyota Highlander eastbound on Highway 2 when she hit the school bus from behind.
The bus was a 2018 Blue Bird Conventional transporting students, and its driver was not hurt. Police said the woman died at the scene, and no students were reported injured.
Beyond that, troopers have not said why the collision happened. The crash remains under investigation as officials await toxicology analysis and continue reviewing the circumstances surrounding the fatal wreck.