A truck driver convicted in a fiery crash that killed six people — including three Tuscarawas Valley High School students — has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, with credit for 323 days already served. He will also face a five-year driver’s license suspension.
Jacob McDonald, 61, received the sentence Monday morning in Licking County Common Pleas Court, more than a month after a jury found him guilty of six counts of vehicular manslaughter in the Nov. 14, 2023, chain-reaction crash on Interstate 70. He had faced 26 charges in total but was convicted only of the lesser offenses following a two-week trial. He was sentenced to 180 days in jail on each of the six charges, but the maximum aggregate sentencing is 18 months.
The crash involved a semi-truck driven by McDonald that rear-ended a charter bus carrying students and chaperones from Tuscarawas Valley Middle-High School. The impact triggered a fire and multi-vehicle pileup that claimed six lives.
Killed aboard the bus were students John Mosley, 18, of Mineral City; Jeffery Worrell, 18, of Bolivar; and Katelyn Owens, 15, of Mineral City. Also killed were three occupants of an SUV in front of the truck: Dave Kennat, 56, a teacher from Navarre; Kristy Gaynor, 39, of Zoar; and Shannon Wigfield, 45, of Bolivar. Gaynor and Wigfield were chaperoning the school trip.
McDonald had originally been charged with six counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, nine counts of vehicular assault, and 11 counts of misdemeanor assault. However, Judge David Branstool ruled the state failed to prove McDonald acted recklessly beyond a reasonable doubt, resulting in the downgraded convictions.
The crash deeply affected the Tuscarawas Valley community, prompting an outpouring of grief and support for the victims’ families.
