The driver of a school bus that struck and killed 12-year-old Brayden Callahan in November 2025 will not serve any jail time under a plea agreement reached with the state.
A judicial settlement conference was held Monday, Aug. 3, in the state court in Knox County for Jeffrey Colburn, 65, of Camden. A change of plea hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 11.
A grand jury indicted Colburn for manslaughter on Jan. 15. He pleaded not guilty to the criminal charge.
In Maine’s legal system, someone guilty of manslaughter “recklessly, or with criminal negligence, causes the death of another human being.” Recklessly is defined as when a person “consciously disregards a risk that their conduct will cause the death of another human being, and that this disregard is a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would observe. Recklessly is a higher level of culpability than criminal negligence, which involves “failing to perceive a risk that a reasonable person would have perceived.”
The maximum sentence for manslaughter is 30 years in prison.
To have been convicted, a jury of 12 Knox County residents would have had to agree unanimously that the state had proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The agreement reached at the settlement conference between the district attorney’s office and defense calls for the manslaughter charge to be dismissed in exchange for admitting to the civil violation of a motorist committing a traffic violation that results in death. The civil violation carries no jail sentence. The maximum sentence under the civil violation is a four-year license suspension, a $5,000 fine, and community service.
Justice William Stokes mediated the judicial conference where the agreement was reached. Another judge will preside at the plea hearing next week.
According to an accident report filed by Rockland Police, the student was in a marked crosswalk when Colburn accelerated. The accident report said it appeared from the onboard bus video that Colburn was leaning far to the right and did not keep his eyes on the road. Colburn told police he did not see Callahan. The video also showed the front crossing arm was no longer deployed.
Colburn is no longer employed by the district. The district has not said whether he was fired or resigned. That occurred before Dec. 3, 2025.
The boy’s parents filed a notice of claim Nov. 26, 2025, for $10 million against Regional School Unit 13 and Colburn. In Maine, a notice of claim must be filed before a lawsuit can be filed against a government entity. RSU 13 Superintendent John McDonald said Aug. 4 there has been no update on that matter.
Attorneys Jeremy Pratt of Camden and Caitlyn Smith of Bangor were appointed by the court earlier this year to represent Colburn. Public Defender Services has approved funds for the representation. Colburn discharged his first lawyer, Jonathan Goodman of Portland, earlier this year.
The death of Brayden in November was one of two incidents in which a student was killed in a school bus incident in Maine. In December 2025, a 5-year-old child died when he was dragged by his school bus in Standish.
The last time this civil violation was used in Knox County was in January 2025 when 45-year-old Darreyl Wright was issued a four-year license suspension and $5,000 fine for a February 2021 head-on crash on Route 17 in Rockport that claimed the life of 26-year-old Elizabeth Sherfey.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.