LIVE: Verdict read in trial for Ohio man accused of causing deadly bus crash

A verdict has been handed down in the trial of a man charged in a deadly, five-car crash in 2023 that left six people dead in northeast Ohio.It's a bench trial, meaning a judge handed down the verdict, instead of a jury.Judge David Branstool found the driver, Jacob McDonald, 61, guilty on six charges of vehicular homicide and clearing him of all other charges.Branstool said he finds the state failed to establish the element of recklessness. Branstool said based on evidence regarding the data from McDonald's cell phone convincing. McDonald initially faced 26 charges, including six third-degree felony counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, nine fourth-degree felony counts of vehicular assault and 11 first-degree misdemeanor counts of assault. McDonald will be sentenced at a later date.The crash on Interstate 70 in November 2023 killed six victims who were traveling to a band performance. According to Ohio State Highway Patrol, a charter bus, two commercial vehicles and two passenger vehicles were traveling westbound on I-70 when the chain-reaction crash occurred.The victims were identified as: John W. Mosley, 18, Jeffery D. Worrell, 18, Katelyn N. Owens, 15, Dave Kennat, 56, Kristy Gaynor, 39 and Shannon Wigfield, 45. Mosley, Worrell and Owens were students from Tuscarawas Valley High School.According to state investigators, McDonald failed to slow down in traffic, hit another car and pushed it into the bus, which was carrying students and chaperones from the Tuscarawas Valley Local School District in eastern Ohio.