Dec 8, 2021 4 min read

A Virginia trucker on trial this week accused of homicide by vehicle can be seen in dashboard camera video yawning and nearly dozing off just before his rig sideswiped another tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder of Interstate 70 in Fallowfield Township, killing that driver while he was tending to his disabled vehicle.

The one-minute video played Tuesday during the second day of Hosea Holcomb IV’s trial shows him tired with music blaring in the cab when his vehicle veered onto the shoulder and struck John Marvin Isenberg III while he was crouched near the driver’s side door of his rig on the shoulder of the eastbound lanes.

Isenberg, 33, of Toronto, Ohio, died at the scene of blunt force trauma to his head, trunk and extremities after being hit by the passenger side of Holcomb’s rig at the interchange with the Mon-Fayette Expressway on Jan. 11. Holcomb continued driving another 11 miles before state police stopped his vehicle after a witness who saw Isenberg get hit called 911.

“It’s quite apparent he’s falling asleep,” state police Cpl. Todd Stephenson testified about the video, which was played several times in court. “The driving is all over the road.”

The dashboard camera recorded video out the front windshield and facing back at Holcomb while he was driving. A “thud” noise can be heard as Holcomb’s rig passes by Isenberg, who can be seen wearing a fluorescent jacket while crouched down next to his vehicle on the shoulder.

“The impact is audible,” Stephenson said. “You can hear the impact with (the victim’s) body.”

Holcomb can then be seen swerving back into his lane and appears to look over to his right to see if he hit the vehicle before saying, “Oh, (expletive).” However, he continued for several more miles and wasn’t stopped by police until just before the Smithton exit, apparently unaware that he had struck a person. The incident happened just before dawn and it was still relatively dark on the roadway.

Trooper Jason Altman testified that when investigators came upon Holcomb’s vehicle, they found a mark near the bottom skirting indicating the point of impact. The rig’s right side wheel covers were also damaged, and they found other evidence that the trailer had struck a person.

Trooper Zachary Casini testified that Holcomb was swerving on the highway before the crash and traveling at 63 mph when he struck Isenberg in a section of the highway with a 55-mph speed limit. No drugs or alcohol were found in Holcomb’s blood, Casini testified.

Holcomb allegedly told investigators during an interview after the crash that he was “nodding off” and that he did not stop because he was unaware he had hit someone.

“Now my mistake cost someone’s life,” Holcomb wrote in a statement to investigators, according to evidence presented at trial.

Holcomb, 28, of Emporia, Va., is facing felony charges of homicide by vehicle and accident involving death, along with several traffic citations.

The trial in Washington County Court began Monday morning when off-duty paramedic James Hamilton, who witnessed the incident, testified that Holcomb was driving recklessly when he struck Isenberg. Hamilton called 911 and gave emergency dispatchers a description of the vehicle, but he then exited the highway to turn around in an attempt to render aid to Isenberg, who was already dead.

The trial was recessed Monday after about an hour of Hamilton’s testimony because of scheduling conflicts with some of the investigating troopers. A fourth state trooper who was expected to testify Tuesday was ill, so the non-jury trial before Judge Gary Gilman will resume at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 14.

Assistant District Attorney John Friedmann expected to call his final witness that day and then rest the prosecution’s case. Defense attorney Michael Waltman said he would need a full day of testimony to present his case.

Holcomb is free on $250,000 unsecured bond after he was initially held for nearly a month without bail.