The truck driver charged in a deadly April nine-vehicle crash on Interstate 71 in Delaware County is scheduled for a trial starting Sept. 22 in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas.
Modou Fall Ngom and his attorney, Jeffrey M. Poth, will confront felony charges connected to an April 11 crash that killed a family of three. An additional charge of vehicular assault was added in a new indictment filed Sept. 17; an arraignment on that charge is also scheduled for Sept. 22.
Jury selection will start the morning of Sept. 22, said Brandi Orsini, spokeswoman for the Delaware County Prosecutor's Office.
Ngom entered a not guilty plea for three charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and four charges of vehicular assault during an April 21 hearing
before Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Marianne Hemmeter.
What happened in the I-71 crash?
Ngom was driving the semi-truck that crashed into traffic backed up in the northbound lanes of Interstate 71 near U.S. 36/Route 37 in Delaware County the evening of April 11, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol. The crash killed a couple from Ashley and their 1-year-old child, and injured three other people.
Dr. Lynnea Soposki, 36, a veterinarian at the Muirfield Animal Hospital in Dublin, was killed in the I-71 crash along with her husband, Luke Soposki, 37, and their 1-year-old baby Logan. The family lived in Ashley in Delaware County, according to public records.
The crash occurred in a construction zone for the Ohio Department of Transportation's Improved Interchange at I-71/U.S. 36/SR 37 and Proposed Sunbury Parkway project. As a part of the project, ODOT reduced the I-71 northbound ramp to U.S. 36/SR 37 down to one lane beginning April 8.
The Soposki family filed a wrongful death lawsuit May 21 on behalf of the estates of Luke, Lynnea and Logan. The complaint alleges that Ngom's negligence caused their deaths, and he "failed to be alert and pay attention to the road" as he approached slowed traffic.
Another driver injured in the crash, Alyssa Harris, of Galena, filed a personal injury lawsuit against Ngom and his trucking company, M F W Carrier,April 24. Her attorney, Mark Kitrick, said Harris suffered serious injuries to her left leg and narrowly escaped her burning vehicle.
Poth filed a motion to dismiss the criminal case against Ngom April 28, arguing extensive media coverage – including reporting by The Dispatch – has made it impossible for him to receive a fair trial.
Then-Ohio Department of Public Safety Director Andy Wilson, who is now Ohio Attorney General, said in a prepared statement released April 23 that the state was turning over information it uncovered about Ngom to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation.
Ngom allegedly entered the U.S. sometime in the 1990s and used multiple names to get state and federal identification, including an Ohio driver's license in 2003 and a commercial driver's license in 2007. He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen under an alternate identity, then in 2015 he changed his name back to Modou Ngom, according to Wilson's statement.
Political ad references the Soposkis
The crash and deaths of the Soposki family gained renewed attention in August, when relatives criticized a National Republican Senatorial Committee ad supporting U.S. Jon Husted that referenced the incident.
The ad contended former Sen. Sherrod Brown's stance on immigration allowed "dangerous illegals" to enter the country and cuts to Ngom and footage of the accident. It also includes a photo of the Soposkis taken by a family friend, according to a statement from the family. The family said they never agreed to the use of the image.
"This is not a statement about immigration policy, and we are not making one for any party or candidate," the family said. "It is a statement about our family. Lynnea and Luke were not political symbols. … Our grief is not raw material for a campaign, and their images are not public property to repurpose for anyone's advantage."
U.S. Sen. Jon Husted told reporters Aug. 29 that his campaign asked the National Republican Senatorial Committee to take down the ad.
Dispatch Reporter Nora Igelnik can be reached at nigelnik@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Trial scheduled for semi-truck driver in fatal Interstate 71 crash
