A Providence, Rhode Island school bus driver is awaiting trial on a 26-year-old, cold-case murder, while a former Alabama school bus driver is awaiting extradition from Tennessee on a capital murder charge.
Multiple news outlets first reported that Zunilda Rosario was arrested last week by detectives as she got off a plane from the Dominican Republic for the Feb. 11, 1990 slaying of her then 19-year-old boyfriend in his Harlem apartment. Rosario, now 48, was questioned at the time, as the couple had just been heard fighting before the murder, according to the New York Post.
The Post also reports that she told investigators that someone else killed Juan Deleon, an alleged drug dealer who is the father of two of Rosario’s three children. Rosario told the Post that three men Deleon had sold drugs to approached the couple in the apartment lobby and began shooting at her boyfriend while she ran. She also said police took her fingerprints and told her to go home. She remained in New York City for four more years, she added, before moving to Providence.
According to the charge against her, an eyewitness has now surfaced who claims Rosario is the one who shot and killed Deleon.
A First Student school bus driver since 2000, Rosario has been “removed from service as the case unfolds,” according to the Providence Journal. Company spokeswoman Jennifer Biddinger said Rosario passed all criminal background checks and was “a fine driver.”
Meanwhile, The Times Free Press reported that Warren Hardy, a Durham School Services bus driver for Huntsville City Schools, allegedly kidnapped his ex-girlfriend’s daughter and stepfather and ordered them to drive to a residence. Once there, the complaint says that Hardy, 27, forced his ex-girlfriend into the vehicle, but the family drove away before Hardy could get back in.
At that point, Hardy allegedly carjacked a 72-year-old woman and in the process shot her to death.
A spokeswoman for Durham School Services said Hardy passed all pre-employment screenings for drugs and alcohol, criminal background check and motor vehicle registration.
