Doug A. Jones says a final goodbye to Bonnie Jones, his wife of 42 years, moments before he is led away to begin his 30-month prison sentence. Jones, 81, pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter for hitting and killing 24-year-old Teresa M. Howell. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
An elderly truck driver who hit and killed a construction worker will be going to prison.
Doug A. Jones, 81, of Mansfield, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in prison.
In November, Jones pleaded no contest to one count of involuntary manslaughter, a felony of the third degree, in connection to the death of Teresa M. Howell.
“I’d like to think she would do her best to forgive this individual and allow peace,” Howell’s father said of his daughter. “I myself find it hard.”
On Dec. 7, 2018, Jones was driving a 2004 Kenworth truck, hauling a 2014 Great Dane trailer, both owned by Estep Express Incorporated in Mansfield. Jones was headed east on U.S. 33 in Jerome Township. About 8:59 a.m., Jones drove into at a work site just west of Route 161. Howell was part of a crew working on the guardrails on U.S. 33. She was unloading a truck at the work site when Jones hit and killed her.
Howell, 24, of Greenwich, left behind a husband and two sons, 4 and 6.
During the sentencing hearing, attorneys for the state and for the defense debated whether Howell was on the roadway when she was hit or whether she was off the road.
Union County Prosecutor Dave Phillips played video, taken from the pedestrian bridge over U.S. 33 in Marysville, showing the truck Jones was driving weaving on and off the right side of the road.
He also played an audio recording of a 911 call, reporting Jones’ truck weaving.
“He is fast asleep,” the caller said, explaining that the driver was “slumped over.”
Phillips detailed Jones’ route from Abbott Nutrition in Sturgis, Michigan to ODW Logistics on the east side of Columbus. He said that if Jones was tired, he had multiple opportunities to get off the freeway and rest, but didn’t.
The prosecutor said Howell was off the side of the road unloading a truck when Jones went off the right side of the road and hit her. Phillips said he hit the woman multiple times until her body was lodged under the moving truck. Eventually the body came loose.
“Her body was nearly severed and yet Mr. Jones drove on,” Phillips said.
He played a 911 tape from a caller on the scene.
“Oh my god. Oh my god,” the caller says. “We have a person who has been struck by a semi here.”
The caller gives the location and tells authorities he believes the woman has died.
Phillips showed that while witnesses were calling for help, Jones called his employer twice. Jones told his employer that he had hit several traffic cones.
Jones eventually stopped on Interstate 270 to see if there was any damage done to his trailer.
About 90 minutes after the crash, investigators found Jones and his truck in a warehouse area at 1580 Williams Rd., Columbus.
Phillips then said this incident was “remarkably similar” to another five months earlier in Pennsylvania.
In the July 2018 incident, Jones was driving a loaded semi-truck on Interstate 81. According to court documents, witnesses saw Jones “driving erratically” and “moving in and out of the right lane.”
Jones lost control of his truck and hit a tractor-trailer parked off the road. Arquimides Flores, 33, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was working to repair his tractor-trailer, which was having tire troubles. When Jones hit the other truck, it allegedly crushed Flores, killing him.
Jones was charged with “careless driving causing the death of another person,” driving too fast for conditions, driving outside his lane before ascertaining the danger, and failing to wear his seatbelt.
“How many people does he get to kill before he is incarcerated?” Phillips asked.
Defense Attorney James Tyack told the judge he does not agree with Phillip’s assessment of the crash site. He said he is not blaming the victim, but, “it is undisputed that she was in the highway when she was hit.”
He added that Phillips had not played the 911 call of someone warning authorities that someone was going to get killed at the work site because the lane was not closed, but workers were on the road.
The defense attorney said Jones has no criminal record, but has a wife of 42 years, three children, nine grandchildren and multiple health issues.
He argued that Jones should not go to prison.
“He is no longer a driver,” Tyack said. “I don’t believe Mr. Jones has any intention of driving again, nor is he insurable.
Tyack also told the judge and family members of the victim that he had told Jones not to apologize or make any statements.
As part of the victim impact statements, family members had said Jones showed no remorse because he had never spoken to them or apologized.
Like the prosecutor, the father asked for a maximum sentence.
“I guess it doesn’t matter if he gets the maximum or the minimum, it isn’t enough,” he said.
In addition to the 30-month prison sentence, Jones’ license to drive is suspended for the remainder of his life.
Jones was originally charged with two counts of failure to stop after an accident and one count each of involuntary manslaughter, vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular homicide, though all but the involuntary manslaughter charge were dropped as part of an agreement to have him plead guilty.
In addition to the criminal charges, Jones is facing civil lawsuits in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. He could also be held responsible for damages and face civil penalties for violating federal safety regulations.