NEWARK, Ohio (WCMH) – A Licking County judge will take a little while longer to announce the fate of a semi driver charged in a fatal 2023 crash on Interstate 70.
A courthouse official told NBC4 that Judge David Branstool is expected to announce his ruling at 1 p.m. Friday. In the Licking County Court of Common Pleas are several other jury trials already scheduled for early in the week. For an previous report on this story view the video player above.
Waiting for his verdict is Jacob McDonald, 61, of Zanesville, who 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.
The trial stems from a bus crash that occurred on Nov. 14, 2023, when McDonald was driving a semi-truck that collided with a charter bus carrying 54 students and chaperones from Tuscarawas Valley Middle-High School in northeastern Ohio.
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 while six people connected to the school, including three high school students, died.
Pronounced dead 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 were 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.
A report by the Ohio Department of Public Safety claimed McDonald was traveling at approximately 74.7 mph one mile before the crash. He reportedly was trailing too close 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 actively manipulating his phone. 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
Attorneys presented their arguments last week over a three day period, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, with Judge Branstool originally saying he expected to give his verdict early this week. McDonald, who has been in jail on a $1 million bond since he was arrested in July 2024, is facing over 30 years in prison.