LICKING COUNTY, Ohio — A fiery crash in Licking County last year that involved five vehicles, including a bus carrying dozens of high school students, is now the subject of several wrongful death lawsuits.
Six people died and 18 others were injured in November 2023 when the driver of a semi-truck failed to slow down and smashed into an SUV and a charter bus on Interstate 70 in Licking County.
Now, families of those who lost loved ones have filed separate wrongful death lawsuits, with two in Franklin County and one in Licking County.
The Estate of Shannon Wigfield is among those seeking damages.
Wigfield was the passenger in a Nissan Murano that was struck from behind by the semi. The 46-year-old was an English teacher at Buckeye Career Center in New Philadelphia.
The lawsuit points fingers at several companies including the maker of the semi, the company that sold it and the driver.
Her attorney, Sean Alto, alleges, “If the tractor has been designed and manufactured with the Detroit Assurance Safety System that are standard equipment, then the tractor would have automatically stopped before crashing into the SUV, regardless of the driver Jacob McDonald’s level of attentiveness and Shannon Wigfield would not have died.”
The lawsuit was filed in April in Franklin County. All 10 defendants named have denied responsibility.
A trial date is set for April 2025.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $25,000.
A crash report released by the Ohio State Highway Patrol a few weeks after the crash detailed the chain of events.
The report shows that all five of the vehicles were heading west on I-70 in the right lane.
The vehicles were in the following order from back to front: Freightliner semi-trailer, Nissan Murano, charter bus, Toyota Highlander and Volvo semi.
The sequence of events is as follows:
- Passenger vehicles, bus and Volvo slowed for traffic; Freightliner semi strikes the Nissan Murano in the back
- Nissan hits the back of the bus; overridden by the Freightliner
- Freightliner hits the back of the bus
- Bus hits back of the Toyota Highlander; Toyota hits Volvo
- Toyota travels into left lane, causes bus to hit Volvo
According to the report, the driver of the Freightliner was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the crash.