Monica Carlson and husband Bob Carlson. (Photo Courtesy of Allison Wilson)

Washington D.C. police have charged Gerard Derrick James of Baltimore in the deaths of Skagway Mayor Monica Carlson and her mother Cora Louise Adams of Elbe, Washington.

According to police, the two women were struck by a tour bus while crossing Pennsylvania Avenue just before 10 p.m. on December 19th. Both were taken to the hospital where they died of their injuries.  

Police say James was driving alone in a tour bus owned by Eyre Bus Company. Surveillance footage provided by the company shows that as James turned left on Pennsylvania Avenue he received a call on his cell phone. Police say the footage shows him picking up the phone as the bus struck the two women in the intersection.

Police arrested James for involuntary manslaughter eight days after the deaths of Carlson and Adams. In interviews with police, James said he has been a driver for 18 years.

Carlson and Adams were in D.C. for a last minute holiday trip. Carlson is survived by her husband Robert Carlson and son Maxwell Carlson.