by Jackie Nunnery
LANCASTER—Lancaster County Circuit Court Judge John S. Martin on Tuesday, April 28, granted a change of venue for a trial on charges related to a July 2025 fatal three-vehicle crash on the Robert O. Norris Jr. Memorial Bridge. The trial scheduled for June has been withdrawn, but a new location and date has not been set.
Jesse David Foster of White Stone is charged with felonies for involuntary manslaughter, reckless involuntary DUI manslaughter and reckless driving resulting in accident and death. He also is charged with a misdemeanor for DWI, second offense within five years.
According Virginia State Police reports at the time, the accident occurred around 6:50 p.m. on July 13, 2025, when a 2014 Mercedes-Benz driven by Foster was traveling westbound along Route 3 on the bridge at a high rate of speed and attempted to pass another vehicle in the eastbound lane, sideswiping a 2024 Subaru Outback and then striking a 2014 Ford Fusion head-on.
Foster’s passenger, Crystal Michelle Lyles, 42, of White Stone was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. The driver of the Fusion, Ernesto Santiago, 53, of Hampton also died at the scene. The driver of the Subaru Outback, Madeline Hart Gunter, 27, of Richmond was not injured.
