JERSEY CITY — A jitney bus driver charged with killing an 11-year-old Jersey City boy had been involved with at least 10 accidents and nine license suspensions.

Raul O. Delatorre-Galarza, 44, of Elizabeth, had previously been cited for failing to stop for a pedestrian, twice for using a handheld device while driving and three times for failing to appear at court hearings, according to NJ.com, which reported Delatorre-Galarza was unaware that his license was suspended at the time of Friday's incident on Kennedy Boulevard.

Delatorre-Galarza's lawyer, Edgar Navarrete, told a Superior Court judge during his first court appearance on Monday that his client was once cited for careless driving but never DWI and does not have a criminal record.

Delatorre-Galarza was driving a private commuter bus commonly referred to as a jitney.

George Gonzalez was struck on Kennedy Boulevard at Neptune Avenue on Friday morning as Delatorre-Galaza tried to get the bus around a double-parked truck. The boy, a student at the BelovED Charter School, later died at Jersey City Medical Center.

According to a GoFundMe page created to help with Gonzalez's funeral expenses, his funeral is on Saturday at the Evergreen Funeral Home in Jersey City with a viewing on Friday.

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