A 72-year-old Ohio woman is facing homicide by vehicle charges after state police said she drove north into the southbound lanes of the Mon-Fayette Expressway and slammed head-on into another car, killing the 24-year-old driver inside. Maciola B. Newman, of Pickerington, Ohio, was charged in connection with the crash that killed Jacob M. Huber of Ruffs Dale on July 14.
According to heraldstandard.com, Newman was driving north in the southbound lanes of the Route 43 toll road in Fallowfield Township shortly before 4:30 a.m. that day when she crashed head-on into Huber's vehicle. The collision happened at mile-marker 37, just north of the interchange with Interstate 70, the outlet reported. Huber died at the scene.
Newman and her passenger, 38-year-old Charles E. Newman, suffered serious injuries and were flown by medical helicopters to a Pittsburgh hospital, per the same account. As first reported by CBS Pittsburgh, court paperwork indicates both of them were flown to Allegheny General Hospital.
Charges and Court Proceedings
Newman is facing felony homicide by vehicle along with misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment, plus several summary citations, according to observer-reporter.com. She was arraigned Tuesday morning by District Judge Eric Porter and released on $50,000 unsecured bond, the outlet reported. Her preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 22 at 11 a.m.
Under Pennsylvania law, a person commits involuntary manslaughter when, as a direct result of an unlawful act performed recklessly or with gross negligence, or a lawful act performed recklessly or with gross negligence, that person causes another's death, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The offense is generally graded as a first-degree misdemeanor, the statute shows.
A Regional Pattern of Wrong-Way Crashes
The Fallowfield Township crash arrives amid a string of wrong-way incidents across the Pittsburgh region. In February alone, there were four wrong-way crashes on highways around Pittsburgh, according to CBS News Pittsburgh, including a deadly crash on the Parkway West, a crash on the Fort Duquesne Bridge, and a wrong-way driver on I-79. One of those incidents involved an SUV that crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer and caused a fire on Interstate 70, the station reported.
PennDOT says it will review the crash data it receives through a state reporting system, and the agency said it is currently working to improve safety at the I-79 and Route 910 interchange, with plans for work on the Parkway East corridor as well, per the CBS Pittsburgh report.
Wrong-way crashes have also turned up elsewhere in the state this year. In Dauphin County, a wrong-way crash on Route 322 killed one driver and left a second driver in critical condition, according to PennLive. And on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a 25-year-old Allentown man was charged with homicide by vehicle while DUI and related offenses following a 2025 fatal wrong-way crash, per WFMZ.
Statewide, Pennsylvania reported that fatalities in impaired-driver crashes fell from 342 in 2024 to 258 in 2025, described as the lowest number on record, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Newman's preliminary hearing next week will mark the next step in a case that has already drawn attention amid the region's wider wrong-way driving concerns.
