Moorhead bus driver is sentenced two years after fatal crash

The Wright County Attorney told the judge he had a hard time deciding what punishment to ask for. He says the accident didn't involve drugs or alcohol, just a tragic mistake with a very high price. Ernst did not comment at today's sentencing, but his attorney said he takes full responsibility, and would have apologized to the Weishair family a million times.

The Weishair family says everyday is hard. They say not a day goes by they don't think about Jessica, and miss her. Today, Jessica's father, Kim, spoke in court about his daughter. He says true justice would bring his little girl back, but that will never happen.

Jessica Weishair was going in to her junior year at Pelican Rapids high school. She was involved in band, the dance team, volleyball and softball; she had so much to live for.

“We will never have closure. My wife and I, we should be looking forward to prom, her graduating, and we're not.”

Kim Weishair says there's emptiness in his heart, where his daughter Jessica used to be, and it's never going to be filled. The finality of today's sentencing does nothing to ease the pain his family, and those close to Jessica still feel every day since she was tragically taken.

“Nothing's going to make this right for us. We realize that the court and county attorney has, the responsibility that they have, is what they have.”

Kim says there is something to be learned from the horrible accident that took his daughter away.

“Don't travel at night, pay the hotel room, I would have paid everybody's hotel room had we known what was going to happen.”

Jessica's family says they're still angry, and outraged, robbed of the time they could have had with her.

“I guess we lose, we're the biggest losers.”

The Weishair family says the biggest thing they wanted out of this whole case was for Loren Ernst to take responsibility for his actions. That's something they say he's never done. The family of Jessica marked the scene of the accident, near Albertville.

They put flowers and a Teddy Bear on fence posts in the ditch, off I-94. Jessica and the band were on a charter bus coming back from Chicago, when the bus veered off the road. Dozens of other people were injured.

Tags: christina vaughn, pelican rapids, k-12 education, weishar, moorhead, news, crime, ernst