A Metro bus driver charged with vehicular manslaughter in the death of a Cincinnati road worker will be arraigned Saturday, July 25, in Hamilton County Court. The case echoes the January 2024 death of Beverly Kinney, struck by a Metro bus in a Hyde Park crosswalk, which produced a $10 million settlement and promises of safety reform that the victim's family's attorney now says were broken.

Kyle Taylor was driving a Metro bus on State Route 562, the Norwood Lateral, on July 16 at about 12:45 p.m. when he struck a City of Cincinnati road crew, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. The crash killed Jonathan "Jay" Young, 46, a 24-year city employee and father of two.

Taylor failed to slow down or observe the work crews before colliding with a city truck that was positioned as a safety barrier behind workers picking up road signs from a trailer, the sheriff's crash report states. The impact pushed the truck into the trailer, causing Young to fall. The trailer ran him over.

Two other city workers jumped from the trailer; one was injured. Both are expected to survive, according to the sheriff's office. Taylor was taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center with injuries.

The City of Cincinnati's 311 Cincy public services account wrote that Young "was someone you could always count on" and that "his kindness, dedication, and friendship will never be forgotten."

The Hyde Park connection

The Cooper Elliott law firm, now representing the mother of Young's two children, previously handled the case of Beverly Kinney, an 87-year-old former Princeton High School teacher killed by Metro driver Deon Willis on January 11, 2024, in the crosswalk at Dana Avenue and Duck Creek Road in Hyde Park.

Cooper Elliott settled that case with SORTA, the agency that operates Metro, for $10 million in August 2025. The settlement included a commitment to overhaul driver hiring, training, and safety practices, according to WLWT.

Willis had a history of crashes while employed at Metro, including a 2018 incident in which he ran a red light and struck a pedestrian who was left wheelchair-bound, according to the civil complaint in the Kinney case. Willis was sentenced to five years of probation, a five-year license suspension, and 1,000 hours of community service.

"Less than a year after SORTA promised this community it would fix how it hires and trains its drivers, another family is grieving because of a Metro bus," attorney Jeffrey Kenney of Cooper Elliott said on July 24. Kenney said the firm is investigating Taylor's driving and hiring history and will hold SORTA accountable again if the agency failed to follow through on its reforms.

According to the Kinney civil complaint, SORTA buses had been involved in more than 300 crashes since 2014, with 11 involving pedestrians.

What's next

Taylor's arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 25 in Hamilton County Court. SORTA and Metro had not publicly responded to the crash or Cooper Elliott's statement as of July 24. The Norwood Lateral is a major east-west corridor used by Metro buses serving Hyde Park, Oakley, and surrounding neighborhoods.