The bus driver charged in connection with the deadly Interstate 95 crash in Stafford County, Virginia, that killed five people in May is expected to ask a judge next week to postpone his October trial, according to newly filed court documents.
Jing Sheng Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York, faces five counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of reckless driving in the May 29 chain-reaction crash on I-95 near Quantico. Five people were killed and dozens of others were injured.
Dong’s trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 6, but defense attorney Thomas Walsh said in a recent filing he plans to ask Stafford County Circuit Court Judge Charles Clark during a Sept. 2 hearing to set a new trial date.
Walsh said prosecutors expect to call as many as 70 witnesses and that an out-of-state accident reconstruction expert retained by the defense needs additional time to review evidence collected in the case.
Shortly after the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said preliminary findings indicated Dong’s bus was traveling at a high rate of speed and failed to slow while approaching a work zone near mile marker 146.
In arguing for a delay, the defense cited previous appeals court decisions. According to Walsh, a continuance “should be granted to bring a material defense witness or witnesses before the court when the defendant’s constitutional right to a fair trial and a right to call for evidence in their favor are implicated.”
Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen opposed the request in a filing, writing that prosecutors would be prepared to proceed as scheduled.
Based on the attorneys’ and judge’s schedules, Olsen wrote, “a continuance of this case will likely mean a long delay well into the spring, summer or even the fall of 2027.”
Olsen argued that postponing the trial would negatively affect victims’ family members and eyewitnesses who have been preparing for the emotional impact of reliving the crash during the scheduled October trial.
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Those killed in the crash were Priscilla Mafalda, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and four members of a Massachusetts family: Dmitri Doncev, Ecaterina Doncev and their two young children, Emily and Mark.
“Almost all 26 people on the bus driven by the defendant were injured, and several eye-witnesses suffered direct and vicarious trauma from the scene that confronted then at the time of the crash and its aftermath,” Olsen wrote. “Any delay in the trial will directly impact the emotional health of most if not all of those victims and witnesses, many of who will be present for the trial.”
Dong was granted bond by Clark on July 28. According to the defense filing, Walsh said Dong recently signed a one-year lease in Northern Virginia to comply with one of the requirements of the terms and conditions of his bond.
The judge is scheduled to hear arguments during a Sept. 2 motions hearing.
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