Why the Inmates in the Odessa Prison Bus Crash were Behind Bars

None of these offenses was worth the death penalty. . .

Tragic situation. Prayers for all involved.

Knowing what their offenses were was unnecessary. Let them RIP. They had family members, and it is no one's business at this point what they did to end up in prison. Prayers for all involved. Just know where they came from was enough.

I think we were ALL curious if they were deserving of this tragedy. I know that it isn't our call to make - but we are ALL human and we ALL judge. I'm grateful that the information was provided. I mean, it's public knowledge - we can go out on a website somewhere and look at their records and why they were incarcerated.

You can bet your life savings that if any of these individuals had murdered someone... or if they'd been child predators or rape offenders or anything else that we typically "wish death upon" then we'd be forgetting their names and saying how much they deserved this. They asked for it. Don't you DARE say I'm wrong!

Unfortunately... these crimes were not deserving of this fate. No one will ever know what a difference their incarceration could have been made in their lives.

Has anyone watched the series on TV named "Locked Up Abroad"?

Incarceration of citizens has a long history of political subjugation. Whenever tragedy with prisoners happens, it is paramount that a free press shine as much light on the subject as possible. American G.I.s held in POW camps are trained to memorize the names of fellow prisoners or the state holding them can claim the prisoner never existed. There are no lights in POW camps, except what is offered by the prisoners therein, who will eventually be free, maybe.

I felt it was important to offer the details of why the prisoners where prisoners in the first place. When we were reviewing the decision to run this story last night, my thoughts were also that none of these prisoners were incarcerated for overly terrible offenses, comparitively with what you'd expect in a TDCJ facility.

Take it or leave it. The bottom line is that if we're going to assume responsibility for being a part of the free press, and to protect our democracy, we're going to shine as much light on this kind of incident as we can.

On the point of transparency, the TDCJ and the DPS have been extremely transparent in releasing information. For that, we can be thankful.

Sincerely,

Joe Hyde

Print an obituary or just a name but not why they were incarcerated. Could you not have some consideration for their grieving family member???? I am very, very disappointed in San Angelo Live for doing this. Family members have already had their lives turned upside down and then you have to rub it in their faces. Inappropriate and you need to take a look at this if you want to keep readers and if you expect us to advertise with you. I do not want to support this kind of hurtful act.

Yes Mr. Hyde, We do support free press in America. We also have a choice with whom we spend our advertising dollars with. Choice, it is wonderful thing.
Prayers for all of the grieving families.

Whether SA Live posted the reasons why these prisoners were being transported from Abilene to El Paso, anyone can look up their record on the TDCJ website. We do live in a free world where the press has the right to post pretty much anything.

This is a very sad thing to have happened at all but accidents happen and it just so happened to be prisoners that couldn't obey the law that were killed along with 2 men that were having to babysit them for the road trip.

Yes, these men where not convicted of murder, rape or pedaphele(sp) but they still were convicted criminals that did the crime therefore they were sent to do their time. I myself wanted to know what they did as it's my tax dollars paying to house these criminals with a cot and 3 hots.

Prayers to the families

Thanks, Joe, for providing the information.

Well it's a shame about the officers that died but looks like society will be in much better shape without the thugs that are in the photos.....

They ran the same story after we did. Read it in the Chron.

KTAB in Abilene is run by Nexstar (KLST,'s KSAN's parent company). The published same the story.

You know what I ALSO think is great about SA Live? They're found in the rants section as well... they respond to their readers... They're on a level with us! They know what we want! They're impartial. They're personable.

As I reads this comments... I see both sides of the stories .. freedom of the press and so forth. Yes, it is poor taste for them to publish their offenses. Here in Texas, you get more time to serve when drugs are involved. Murderers, rapist, child molesters, are sentenced to serve less time. All those who say "they deserved what they got" are passing judgment. Put yourself in their families shoes and try to be considered of what they are going through.

Thanks Joe for running all the info.

Keep up the good work San Angelo LIVE.

The fact that this article was posted is absolutely pathetic. And to think there were some of you that said this was a good thing that these men died cause they were thugs is sad.
Let me see if I can profile the people who said these terrible things. Hmm.....Conservative, republican, uneducated and claim to love the lord all the while celebrating the death of these men. PATHETIC

I think it's in extremely poor taste to publish their offenses. It's fine to publish the names of the deceased, like you would in any accident. Can someone who dies in a car accident now expect the same treatment from San Angelo Live? Example: Leo Smith, 58, of San Angelo died blah blah. Mr. Smith flunked chemistry in high school, cheated on his wife and was known to not pick up after his dog.
My point is, yes, their offenses can be found on line by anyone who wishes to dig, but the fact is that these inmates have been convicted and are serving time and it has no bearing on the slick road and ensuing accident. These inmates are victims of an accident that they did not cause, and I for one, think it is a terrible tragedy for all involved. This article reeks of tabloid sensationalism.

Information as presented without bias is reporting the facts. I do not see any condemnation for the deceased's offense, just what the offense was. Loss of life is tragic and nothing in the article implies otherwise.