Trial to start for truck driver charged in I-70 bus crash that killed six
Editor's note: The live stream of the trial in the video player above may contain graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The trial for a man charged in a 2023 bus crash on Interstate 70 that killed six people, including three high school students on a band trip, is set to begin on Monday morning.
Jacob McDonald, 61, of Zanesville, is facing 26 charges, including six third-degree felony counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, nine fourth-degree felony counts of vehicular assault and 11 first-degree misdemeanor counts of assault. Court is expected to begin sometime after 9 a.m., and NBC4i.com plans to offer livestreamed coverage in the video player above.
The charges stem from a bus crash that occurred on Nov. 14, 2023, when McDonald was driving a semi that collided with a charter bus carrying students and chaperones from Tuscarawas Valley Middle-High School in eastern Ohio.
In July 2024, McDonald was arrested and charged in the incident, pleading not guilty to all 26 charges. His case is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Monday in Licking County Common Pleas Court. It will be a bench trial, meaning a judge will decide his fate rather than a jury.
Judge David Branstool will preside. Chief Felony Prosecutor Clifford Murphy with the Licking County Prosecutor's Office will represent the state. Attorney Chris Brigdon will defend McDonald.
During opening statements, Murphy said McDonald was speeding, not watching the roadway, and was not paying attention for a period of over 800 feet before the crash.
Brigdon said that McDonald was operating the truck reasonably and was driving with the flow of traffic. He said the bus had a hard braking event before the crash.
Multiple witnesses said the bus did brake before the crash, but some said there was nothing abnormal done by the bus driver. One witness said she thought the bus was following traffic too closely.
The judge heard testimony from a senior at Tuscarawas Valley Middle-High School who was on the bus at the time of the crash, as well as testimony from high school band director Merri Gensley and Assistant Band Director Stephen Tripp.
Prosecutors showed body camera footage from a trooper who was assisting a separate crash further up the road and went back to help after noticing smoke.
The video showed the trooper arrive at the scene of the crash and grab a fire extinguisher from his trunk. He helped get a driver out of another car that was involved in the crash.
The trooper got on the bus with the fire extinguisher. He didn't see anyone on board.
In the video, McDonald was seen sitting in the median.
What happened in the crash?
A charter bus carrying 54 people connected to the Tuscarawas Valley Middle-High School band was traveling westbound on I-70 toward Columbus for a performance at the Ohio School Boards Association conference. The collision occurred at about 8:50 a.m., when McDonald, driving a 2019 Freightliner semi, failed to decelerate as traffic slowed for a crash further down the highway, according to prosecutors.
McDonald struck an SUV in front of him, occupied by a teacher and two parent chaperones, before driving over it and crashing into the rear of the charter bus. The impact sent the bus into another SUV and a commercial truck, totaling five cars involved in the crash, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board. The semi caught fire, with the flames spreading to the rear of the charter bus. Eighteen people were injured in the incident, and six died.
Pronounced dead at the scene from the bus were students John Mosley, 18, of Mineral City; Jeffery Worrell, 18, of Bolivar; and Katelyn Owens, 15, of Mineral City. Occupants of the SUV that was driving in front of the semi -- Dave Kennat, 56, of Navarre; Kristy Gaynor, 39, of Zoar; and Shannon Wigfield, 45, of Bolivar -- were also pronounced dead. Kennat was a teacher, and Gaynor and Wigfield were parents serving as chaperones.
Officials tested McDonald after the crash and determined he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to the NTSB. Information from the semi collected by the NTSB showed the truck was traveling at 74.7 mph about one minute prior to the crash. The speed limit where the crash occurred was 70.
A report by the Ohio Department of Public Safety claimed McDonald was trailing too closely in traffic and failed to slow down. In an interview with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, McDonald told investigators that he did not remember the moments leading to the crash.
Data usage from McDonald’s phone showed a peak usage of 39.8 megabytes per minute roughly 10 minutes before the crash, according to the NTSB investigation. The report compares this to someone streaming high-definition videos, which uses 41.7 megabytes per minute. It is unclear if this means he was on his phone or if it was going through an automatic update. Data usage from his phone at the time of the crash could not be retrieved because it was destroyed in the collision.
The NTSB report revealed McDonald had nine prior traffic violations from 2003 to 2022, for offenses such as speeding or following too closely. In one incident in March 2022, he was pulled over in Indiana while driving 75 mph in a 60 mph zone. The law enforcement officer who pulled him over said at the time that McDonald’s phone was open to a video game, but he was unable to prove McDonald had been using the game while driving.
The aftermath
On the evening of the crash, thousands gathered for a vigil at the Tuscarawas Valley football stadium. Teachers lit a candle for each of the six victims, before pastors and counselors met with community members.
The next day, Gov. Mike DeWine publicly spoke, offering his condolences to the victims' families and sharing his own experience having lost his 22-year-old daughter to a car crash in 1993.
“It’s the worst nightmare for the superintendent, it’s the worst nightmare for the families, the worst nightmare for the teachers,” he said. “Our hearts go out to them and our prayers.”
In the days after the crash, therapy dogs were deployed at Tuscarawas Valley Middle-High School to provide support to students and staff.
In 2024, at least four wrongful death lawsuits were filed by victims’ family members. Defendants in some of those suits include truck dealership Fyda Freightliner Columbus, trucking company Mid-State Systems and McDonald. Attorneys allege Fyda Freightliner sold the semi involved in the crash to Mid-State Systems without standard safety systems.