GREENFIELD — This would have been the last week of school for 13-year-old Emily and 7-year-old Mark Doncev, who were killed in a May 29 bus crash along with their parents, 45-year-old Dmitri and 44-year-old Ecaterina.
Instead, their friends, family members and classmates are mourning, and Mark’s first grade classmates are writing letters to their lost friend.
“Dear Mark, I love you so much. I am so sorry,” wrote Faith Weaver, whose mother, Chrissy Weaver, shared that Faith and her classmates had left notes on Mark’s desk during Providence Christian Academy’s annual end-of-year barbecue. Both Doncev children attended the school.
Chrissy Weaver, who owns Freedom Cafe with her husband Jason, said they were inspired by the actions of their 7-year-old and her friends. The business is donating proceeds from restaurant sales through Saturday toward supporting the funeral expenses, as well as collecting donations to give to the family’s relatives.
“We were impacted by watching the community come together at Providence Christian Academy,” Chrissy Weaver said. “They drew pictures for Mark and it made us realize what feels best is to give back. … That’s what sprung the idea. The community has supported us, so we want to support them.”
She said developmentally, it is difficult for 7-year-olds to process and understand death, and for the first graders, writing letters to Mark and crafting drawings for him felt good. It’s their way of helping him. Chrissy Weaver said she and her husband decided to give back as well and open their restaurant to community members who wanted to do the same.
Chrissy Weaver said the restaurant was busier than usual on Thursday and planned to continue collecting donations the rest of the week. Thursday alone, Weaver estimated they raised $3,000 between the proceeds and donations from customers.
“It was definitely way busier for a Thursday. It was a good turnout,” Chrissy Weaver said. “And we’ve decided that we’ll be collecting throughout the rest of the week. … Some people wanted to go above and beyond.”
Chrissy Weaver shared a story from a recent field trip, where the class went to Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory, and all the butterflies flocked to Mark and landed on him.
“I said, ‘Mark, you’re so sweet, all the butterflies love you,’ and he just smiled at me,” she recounted.
She added that, in addition to good memories of the family, what people should hold onto is that they are together in heaven, reuniting with other loved ones.
“The one little thing that brings me peace is they’re all together,” Chrissy Weaver said.
She said that after the rest of the week’s proceeds and donations are counted, she’ll be writing a check to Anatoliy Bublik, a relative who launched a GoFundMe at tinyurl.com/DoncevFamily to collect donations to support funeral expenses.
Donations on the GoFundMe have been paused as it has collected $80,056, well over the $50,000 goal.
Virginia Police seeking witness video/testimony
The Doncevs were killed on Interstate 95 in Stafford County, Virginia, near Quantico, while they were en route to a family member’s wedding in South Carolina.
At around 2:35 a.m., Jing Sheng Dong, 48, of Staten Island, New York was driving a coach bus that was taking 34 occupants from New York to North Carolina, when he failed to slow for traffic and crashed into the Chevrolet Suburban of Priscilla R. Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, who died in the crash. The Suburban was then pushed into the Doncev family’s Acura SUV, which caught on fire. Seven total vehicles were involved in the collision and 44 people were transported to the hospital.
Dong was arrested while in the hospital. He now faces five felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving. Each manslaughter count carries a maximum prison time of 10 years. He will appear before the Stafford Circuit Court after being released from the hospital.
Virginia State Police is continuing its investigation into the crash. Authorities are asking anyone who witnessed the crash, or who has video of the incident or its aftermath, to call 804-750-8778 or email questions@vsp.virginia.gov.
The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting its own investigation, and lead investigator Eric Gregson said those working on the case plan to look at the injuries and response of the crash, as well as the pre-crash conditions of drivers and factors such as any fatigue, medication, drug, alcohol and workload, as well as roadway conditions.
During a May 30 press conference, Gregson said that video and cellphone data will help investigators reconstruct the scene and timeline of events.
“Our technical reconstruction group is responsible for mapping and documenting any physical evidence on the highway as well as documenting all the vehicle damage,” Gregson said. “We will take that data and analyze it in order to reconstruct the crash events. The reconstructions will also be responsible for analyzing any electronic data obtained from vehicles or other electronic devices.”
Tom Chapman, a board member with the National Transportation Safety Board, said that a preliminary report will be published before the end of June, and a final report could take 12 to 24 months to complete. He added that the agency is also seeking video from witnesses and anyone with information can email witness@ntsb.gov.
“Our investigators will work thoroughly to document relevant evidence and gather additional factual information,” Chapman said. “Our mission is to understand not just what happened, but why it happened and to recommend changes to prevent it from happening again.”
