The bus driver in Friday’s deadly chain-reaction crash in Stafford County, Virginia, was due to stand trial Tuesday in Maryland for a previous arrest on speeding charges.
The bus driver in Friday’s deadly chain-reaction crash in Stafford County, Virginia, was due to stand trial Tuesday in Maryland for a previous arrest on charges of speeding while driving a coach bus.
Court records show Jing Sheng Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York, was scheduled to stand trial Tuesday, June 2, in Annapolis, Maryland.
On March 9, 2026, at 1:20 a.m., Dong was clocked driving 72 miles per hour in a 50 mph zone on Route 3 southbound at Charles Hall Road in Anne Arundel County, Maryland State Police said.
In Friday’s crash, Dong was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, according to Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen.
The crash on Interstate 95 southbound killed five people and injured dozens.
Speed played a role in the bus failing to slow for traffic approaching a work zone on I-95, according to preliminary findings from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The bus in Friday’s crash was operated by E&P Travel Inc. of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, the NTSB said. A compliance snapshot from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration showed one injury crash involving the company’s vehicles in the previous two years and listed its safety rating as satisfactory.
According to Virginia court records, Dong had previously been cited for speeding. In November 2024 he was charged with driving 73 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone in Colonial Heights, south of Richmond. He paid $219 in fines and costs.
Driver remains in hospital, in custody
Two felony warrants for involuntary manslaughter were served on Dong in the hospital, according to Olsen. A magistrate has determined that Dong will be held without bond, in the hospital, until his first court appearance.
According to the NTSB, Dong’s bus failed to slow down while approaching a work zone and struck a Chevrolet Suburban, causing a chain-reaction where the SUV crashed into an Acura and other vehicles. The bus, which was carrying 34 people from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina, then hit additional vehicles.
Four of the people killed were inside the Acura: Dmitri Doncev, 45, a nurse who worked at Holyoke Medical Center; Ecaterina Doncev, 44; and their children, Emily and Mark. They were from Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Priscilla R. Mafalda, a 25-year-old woman from Worcester, Massachusetts, was inside the Suburban that was struck by the bus and died in the collision, according to the NTSB.
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