Tractor-trailer driver charged in fiery Ohio bus crash that killed 6

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