Driver Guilty
A Buena Vista jury spent most of last Thursday listening to testimony in the case of Jason Brandon Esque, who was on trial for seven charges – including one count of involuntary manslaughter and one count of homicide in the commission of another felony – connected to a car accident last March, which resulted in the death of Donnie Walker Coleman.
It took the jurors just over an hour of deliberation Friday afternoon to render guilty verdicts on all seven charges.
“I’m always happy when I feel like the jury has paid attention and given serious consideration to the charges, and they certainly did that today,” Buena Vista Commonwealth’s Attorney Josh Elrod told The News-Gazette after the verdicts were delivered.
In addition to the felony homicide and involuntary manslaughter charges connected to Coleman’s death, Esque was also found guilty of three additional felonies: one count of driving under the influence and causing injury to Deborah Teague, who was in the car with Coleman at the time of the accident; one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, which was the underlying felony in the felony homicide conviction; and leaving the scene of an accident after causing serious injury. He was also convicted on two misdemeanors: driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license.
Prior to certifying the verdicts, Judge Christopher Russell asked Esque if he had anything he wished to say.
“I didn’t mean for none of this to happen,” he replied. “I’m sorry.” Russell ordered a presentence report prepared and scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 22. -The first witness in the commonwealth’s case was Ashley Montgomery, who witnessed the accident on March 10, 2025.
Montgomery testified that she was following the white SUV that Coleman was driving down 22nd Street toward Magnolia Avenue just after 7 p.m.
As they neared the intersection of 22nd Street and Maple Avenue, Montgomery said she saw a black car speeding north on Maple toward the intersection, driving “a lot more than 25 [miles an hour].” She estimated that the vehicle was traveling at least 50 miles per hour and said that it did not stop or slow down as it approached the stop sign at the intersection.
Montgomery said she slammed on her brakes and stopped her car, but saw the black SUV collide with the driver’s side door of the white SUV, pushing the vehicle to the other side of 22nd Street where it hit a car parked in front of the house on the corner. The black SUV, Montgomery said, turned and drove forward a little before hitting a tree on the side of the house, coming to a stop in the side yard next to 22nd Street.
Montgomery, who is a nurse, got out of her car to try to assist the victims of the accident while calling 911. She said she first approached the white SUV and saw “an older man” in the car and a woman walking in front of the vehicle. She checked on the driver, who she said she didn’t know at the time but later learned was Coleman. She said that Coleman told her that his chest was hurting and he was having trouble breathing. Montgomery said that Coleman asked about the other driver, which prompted her to go to the black SUV.
Inside the car, she found a man in the driver’s seat, who she identified for the jury as Esque, and said that she didn’t see any one else in the car. She told him that he’d been in an accident and looked away for a moment. When she turned back, she said that Esque was crawling out of the passenger side window.
Montgomery said that he started to walk away but she told him he needed to stay because he’d been in an accident. Esque, she said, moved to the side of his car and she returned to Coleman’s car to continue to assist him.
She said Coleman again asked about the other driver and when Montgomery looked back, she saw that Esque was walking up 22nd Street, back in the direction she and Coleman had both been driving from when the accident occurred. Montgomery said she called for Esque to stay, at which point he started running and turned into an alleyway about midway up the block between Maple and Birch avenues.
She provided a description to the 911 operator, whom she had been on the phone with throughout this exchange, saying that the driver was wearing a black leather jacket and khaki shorts that were hanging low, and had a cut on his forehead from the accident. -The second witness was Lt. Chris Plogger with the Buena Vista Police Department, who was one of the officers who responded to the accident.
Plogger testified that he had just gotten off duty and was on his way home when the call came in, and he responded due to being near the scene. Plogger testified that he was driving up 24th Street when he saw a man exit the alleyway between Maple and Birch avenues.
Plogger said that the man was carrying a jacket and was wearing khaki shorts, which matched the description that had been given of the suspect. Plogger said that the man was “jogging” when he exited the alley, but “stopped and sat down” when he saw the lights on his police car, at which point Plogger took the man, whom he identified as Esque, into custody. Plogger said that he held Esque at that location until an on-duty officer, Officer Chris Floyd, arrived and put Esque in the back of his patrol car.
The jury next heard from Cpl. Matt Slagle, the officer who was first on the scene and led the investigation into the accident. Slagle testified that he talked to several witnesses at the scene, and that, other than Montgomery, no one had spoken to the driver of the other car and that he hadn’t left any contact or insurance information with anyone at the scene.
Slagle also testified about attempting to identify the owner of the car, first by running the license plates which returned no hits. He then located the vehicle identification number (VIN) in two different locations on the vehicle and ran it, which returned information that the car was owned by the Enterprise rental car company.
James Barber, the branch manager for Enterprise on Quarry Lane just west of Lexington, testified that a black 2023 Kia Sport, was rented to Esque’s wife, Angela Higgins, on March 5, 2025, and was due to be returned on March 14.
Barber testified that Higgins was the only person to sign the rental agreement, though the agreement does authorize spouses and domestic partners of the person renting the car to use it provided they have a valid driver’s license and are on the same insurance policy. Prior to the trial, Esque’s defense attorneys stipulated that Esque’s license was suspended at the time of the accident.
Slagle testified that after Esque was taken into custody, Officer Floyd brought him back to the scene where Slagle spoke to him. At that time, Slagle said, Esque asked him to check on his 17-year-old son at their apartment on 13th Street and on Higgins, who was staying at the Budget Inn on 29th Street. Esque claimed to have gotten a text saying that his wife and son were in danger and he had been driving from the apartment to the hotel when the accident occurred. When he left the scene, he continued north, in the direction of the hotel.
Slagle testified that he was able to make contact with both Higgins and the son and that there was no indication that either of them had been hurt or that they were in any danger. Esque’s phone was not found at the scene and was never searched to recover any messages.
-On the night of the accident, Slagle obtained a warrant to get a blood sample from Esque, which was taken at the hospital at 10:48 p.m., nearly four hours after the accident.
BVPD Officer Chase Coleman testified to being sent to the hospital to sit with Esque while the blood sample was taken and to make sure he didn’t leave the hospital. Coleman testified that, at one point, approximately 30-40 minutes after he arrived at the hospital, Esque “appeared to overdose,” and needed to be revived with NARCAN. When the doctor asked Esque what he had taken, Esque admitted to having taken both methamphetamine and marijuana.
Coleman, Slagle and Plogger all testified that they had had prior encounters with Esque, all three describing him as being calm and collected during those encounters and noting the difference with his behavior on the night of March 10.
The blood sample taken from Esque was taken into evidence and sent to the Virginia Department of Forensic Sciences Lab in Roanoke for toxicology testing.
Dr. Shelby Weatherby, a forensic toxicologist, tested the blood first for alcohol and then for a standard 16 drug panel, testing positive for both methamphetamine and marijuana. Further testing revealed that, at the time the blood sample was taken, Esque had .056 milligrams per liter of methamphetamine in his system and .013 milligrams per liter of amphetamine, which is produced when the body metabolizes methamphetamine. He also had .022 milligrams per liter of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a chemical commonly found in marijuana, and .045 milligrams per liter of Delta-9 carboxy THC, which is produced after the Delta-9 THC begins to metabolize in the body.
Dr. Weatherby also testified to common effects of both methamphetamine and marijuana, which can include paranoia, aggression and agitation, with marijuana also having the effect of causing users to have difficulty in determining time and space, which can have an impact on the ability to judge stopping time and distance while driving. Dr. Weatherby clarified that it was not possible to know for sure what effects any individual user would experience from the drugs. She also testified that she wasn’t able to say for sure when Esque might have taken the drugs based solely on the levels in his blood. -Dr. Kathryn Pinneri, a forensic medical examiner in Roanoke, testified about her report determining Coleman’s cause of death following his death on March 14.
Coleman’s death was ruled accidental, which Dr. Pinneri said is common for deaths resulting from car accidents due to there not being a clear intent to cause harm from the accident itself. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the chest from the accident, though several underlying health conditions were listed as contributing factors. Elrod asked Dr. Pinneri if Coleman had died from any of those health issues, and she said that he hadn’t.
As part of her report, Dr. Pinneri reviewed the medical records of Coleman’s treatment at both the Lexington and Roanoke Carilion hospitals following the accident and testified about the injuries he received in the accident. Several of Coleman’s ribs were broken in the accident, some in multiple places, meaning that several pieces of his rib bones were completely separated. This created a condition called flail chest, which can cause difficulty breathing and chest pain. Dr. Pinneri also said that Coleman’s left clavicle and scapula were broken in the accident, that there were lacerations to his spleen and liver and bruising on his lungs. As a result of the injuries, blood began to pool in the chest cavity, which added to his breathing difficulties. Further internal bleeding and other complications combined with his underlying health issues to cause his death. -Elrod’s final witness was Teague, who testified about the accident and the injuries she sustained from it.
She recalled that she and Coleman had been out to dinner at Cookout in Lexington and had visited friends in Buena Vista, driving past her sister’s house on the corner of 23rd Street and Birch Avenue before heading home for the evening. Teague said that she noticed the time on the car’s clock was 7:17 p.m. and commented about the sunset in front of them. Coleman was holding her hand as they drove.
“He said we’re going to have a good week this week,” she recalled. “No sooner had he said that then we got hit.”
Teague said that neither she nor Coleman saw the other car coming. After the impact, she said she could see the headlights of the other car through the window behind Coleman and that it “looked like they were trying to get into the car.”
After the car came to a stop, Teague said she got out and recalled knowing she was hurt, though not the extent of her injuries.
First responders arrived and were able to remove Coleman from the vehicle, and Teague recalled kissing him on the forehead before they loaded him into an ambulance. She was put into a different ambulance and they were taken to the hospital.
Teague said that her hip was dislocated in the accident, an injury she’s been in physical therapy for since September. She said she has recovered to 77 percent of the mobility she had prior to the accident and that the doctors have said that this is likely “my new normal.” Her physical therapy is set to conclude before the end of the month.
Teague also said she suffered some soft tissue damage in her leg due to impact from the console, which caused her leg to swell to three times its normal size. The swelling has gone down significantly, she said, though she still has “some knots and bruising.”
She also said that she has been seeing a therapist once a month, noting that she “used to see her two or three times a week.”
