Bus driver in Virginia crash that killed 5 facing more charges

The bus driver involved in a Virginia highway crash that killed five people last week has been indicted on additional involuntary manslaughter charges, prosecutors announced Monday.

Jing Sheng Dong, a 48-year-old tour bus driver from Staten Island, New York, now faces three more felony counts in connection with the deaths, as well as a misdemeanor charge for reckless driving, Stafford Commonwealth District Attorney Eric Olsen said. Dong was previously charged Saturday with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Each count of involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, according to the prosecutor.

Nearly four dozen others were injured in the early morning crash on Friday, May 30, including Dong. He remained hospitalized on Monday and will be transported to the Rappahannock Regional Jail once he’s released, according to Olsen.

Virginia State Police said an initial investigation showed traffic was slowing in the southbound lane on Interstate 95 in Stafford County as cars approached a work zone. The bus driver allegedly “failed to slow for traffic” and crashed into six vehicles at about 2:35 a.m., police said. 

The National Transportation Safety Board, which is also investigating along with state police, said the bus was operated by E&P Travel of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, and was transporting passengers from New York to North Carolina.

The bus first struck a Chevrolet Suburban, which then hit an Acura SUV and additional vehicles. Four people in the Acura were killed, along with one person in the Suburban.

The four victims in the Acura were a family from Greenfield, Massachusetts. CBS Boston reported that 45-year-old Dmitri Doncev, his wife, Ecterina, 44, their 13-year-old daughter, Emily, and their 7-year-old son, Mark, were on their way to a wedding in South Carolina.

The victim from the Suburban was identified as 25-year-old Priscilla Mafalda from Worcester, Massachusetts, state police said.