Ohio
Tractor-trailer driver charged in fiery Ohio bus crash that killed 6
olice body camera footage of fatal I-70 bus crash in Licking County
Police body camera video shows scenes of a fatal November 14, 2023, crash that killed three high school students and three adults on Interstate 70 in Licking County.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A truck driver in Ohio has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide after he caused a chain-reaction crash involving a charter bus carrying high school students that left six people dead and 18 others injured last November.
Jacob McDonald, of Zanesville, Ohio, was indicted Thursday on 26 counts, including six counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, nine counts of vehicular assault and 11 counts of assault. The charges McDonald faces include allegations that he was driving “recklessly.”
The chain-reaction crash on Nov. 14, 2023, occurred on the westbound lane of Interstate 70 in Licking County, which is about 40 miles east of Columbus, Ohio’s capital city. Reports from the Ohio Department of Public Safety and National Transportation Safety Board revealed that McDonald, who was driving a tractor-trailer at the time, failed to slow down for a vehicle in front him.
The tractor-trailer then struck the vehicle, which pushed the car into the charter bus carrying 54 students and chaperones. Three students, a teacher and two other chaperones were killed in the incident.
McDonald is in the Licking County Justice Center on a $1 million bond. He is next scheduled to appear in court Tuesday afternoon. McDonald does not currently have an attorney listed as representing him.
The National Transportation Safety Board is continuing to investigate the crash.
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What happened in the crash?
Authorities said the crash involved five vehicles total, including the charter bus, the tractor-trailer, another commercial vehicle and two passenger vehicles. None of the drivers involved were found to be distracted or under the influence.
The charter bus carrying students and chaperones was headed to the last day of the Ohio School Boards Association conference in Columbus. It was occupied by a driver and 54 students, teachers and chaperones from Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools in Zoarville, Ohio.
In the NTSB’s report released last December, investigators said traffic had been backed up on the interstate due to a previous crash. McDonald did not slow down and hit the the rear of a 2015 Nissan Murano — occupied by a high school teacher and two chaperones.
The Nissan was traveling west in the right lane as it slowed for the backed-up traffic, the report said. The tractor-trailer then ran over the Nissan and collided into the charter bus, which struck the rear of a 2006 Toyota Highlander that rotated counterclockwise while traveling forward and hit a 2014 Volvo combination vehicle.
Dozens of emergency personnel were dispatched to the crash site and area hospitals had been placed on alert for a “mass casualty incident.”
Documents obtained by The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network, showed that the trucking company involved in the crash received previous citations for issues with its trucks, including defective brakes.
Truck driver faces several lawsuits
The estates of at least three of the victims who died in the crash have filed wrongful death lawsuits against a central Ohio trucking company and McDonald.
In the complaints, attorneys argued that Fyda Freightliner sold the semi-truck to Mid-State Systems — another trucking company — without standard safety systems. The attorneys said the semi-truck was not equipped with crash prevention safety systems that could have prevented the crash, and accused McDonald and the two companies of negligence.
The companies have denied responsibility for the crash.
Contributing: Emily DeLetter, USA TODAY; Bailey Gallion and Patrick Flaherty, The Columbus Dispatch
A Kentucky woman who had been missing for more than two weeks was found dead in her vehicle in Ohio, authorities said.
The body of Debra Wireman was found in her vehicle on July 3 in Clermont County, Ohio, the Flemingsburg Police Department in Kentucky said on Facebook on Wednesday. Investigators were called to the scene after a report identifying the vehicle as belonging to a missing person, police said. The remains were identified as Wireman’s by the Clermont County Coroner’s Office on July 7, according to law enforcement.
Police in Kentucky said the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio is investigating the woman’s death. No additional information will be released by Flemingsburg police “out of respect for Debra’s family and the integrity of that investigation.”
“While this is not the outcome any of us hoped and prayed for, we are thankful that Debra has been found and that her family can now begin to receive the closure they deserve,” police added on Facebook.
Wireman, according to police, was last seen on June 17 at around 4:30 p.m. in Aberdeen, Ohio, while traveling toward Maysville, Kentucky. She was driving a white 2020 Kia Forte with front-end damage. Police said family and friends were “concerned for her welfare.”
“The overwhelming response from our community, neighboring agencies, the media, and countless individuals across the region demonstrated the very best of people coming together in the hope of bringing someone home safely,” Flemingsburg police said.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Central Ohio has a new option for late-night sweets.
Jeff’s Donuts opened its first Ohio location Wednesday morning at 5717 N. Hamilton Road, between Gahanna and New Albany.
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Sixteen ‘almost feral’ children. Aged 18 months to 18 years. Hidden from sight in an Ohio house of horrors.
Until now.
It’s a situation difficult to fathom: Investigators found 16 kids living inside a 1,300-square-foot home in Vinton County, Ohio, confined in a 12-by-12 bedroom investigators say was covered in human waste. Gary Siders Jr., Elizabeth Siders, Gary Siders Sr., and Christina Siders were arrested on Tuesday, June 30th, and remain in jail after waiving their preliminary hearings today, Tuesday, July 7th.
Investigative reporter Anne Emerson goes beyond the headlines to understand the human impact in the developing Siders child abuse case. How did children live under these conditions for so long? We wanted to hear from the local community affected by this horrific story.
In this episode of Criminally Obsessed, we hear from those voices – from Captain Jeremiah Griffith who was a first responder to the shocking scene, to local Vinton County Pastor James Dimel who describes the community’s support of children who were trapped in a ‘den of evil’. Law enforcement and locals share their shock at the horror lurking in their own community. And Attorney Thomas Stolly, who represents Elizabeth Siders, says the case is more complicated than many believe, urging the public to remember that his client is presumed innocent.
Today, we react in real time to what we know so far in this developing story, and offer multiple perspectives of those closest to this case.
Subscribe to Criminally Obsessed for continuing coverage of the Siders investigation, true crime updates, courtroom developments, and exclusive interviews with the real people impacted by these cases.
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