'I was helpless:' 3 die in Antioch high-speed crash

25-year-old among victims killed in Antioch crash

Relatives say 25-yea-rold Brandon Compton was among the three victims killed when their vehicle slammed into a tree in Antioch Monday night.

ANTIOCH, Calif. - Two men and one woman died in Antioch when their speeding car crashed into another car and then a tree, police said.

Police said they started getting 911 calls Monday just before 10:30 p.m. at 4198 Lone Tree Way, which is next to an Arco gas station and across the street from a Food Mart.

"I was helpless," said Nicole McGee, a clerk at the Arco station who knew one of the victims. "I was helpless. I could not help them get out of the car."

The names and ages of the people who died were not immediately released by the coroner on Tuesday. However, relatives identified one of the victims to KTVU as 25-year-old Brandon Compton, 25.

Image 1 of 2

▼

Loved one said Brandon Compton and two others died when the car he was driving collided into a tree in Antioch.

"If you come around him, his energy is going to instantly gravitate to you," Jeffery Neal, a friend, said. "He was just so positive."

Compton’s brother, Antonio Straughter said he was a good person who loved baseball and served as an umpire in local baseball leagues. His family said they’ll miss his energy and light.

"He was just joyful," Straughter said. "When someone comes up to bat, they get a hit, he'd yell.... he life of the party."

Nicole McGee, a clerk at the Arco station where the crash occurred, said she knew one of the male victims, though she would not provide his name.

"I was helpless. I could not help them get out of the car," McGee said.

Speaking through tears, McGee spoke highly of the victim.

"He was a good kid," she said, wiping her eyes. "Very respectful."

Police said that preliminary information revealed the driver of a silver car was traveling eastbound on Lone Tree Way at a "high rate of speed."

The driver of the car then struck another car, causing it to lose control, leave the road and strike a tree, police said. A witness said that the driver of the silver car sideswiped a black Honda.

A witness also saw a fourth person being taken to the hospital, though police said the driver of the second car was uninjured.

Compton's stepfather, Erick McDaniel, countered police accounts of what happened. He said Compton was driving the silver car, but he was not speeding.

McDaniel claims that the driver in the other vehicle hit Compton's car, and he had no time to react.

"He didn't even has a second to hit his brakes. That's why we don't see any brake marks on the ground. He went right into the tree," said McDaniel. "So for people to be saying right now that he was recklessly driving down, he was speeding down, it didn't happen like that."

"We just want everyone to remember Brandon as a happy guy, handing his business, and a loving dude," McDaniel added.

Video at the scene showed the crumpled, two-door sedan. Car parts were strewn on the sidewalk and ground. A yellow tarp covered the inside of the car.

Anyone who witnessed the collision or with information pertaining to the collision is asked to contact Officer Egan at jegan@antiochca.gov or (925)204-1587.

Two men and one woman, possibly in their mid-20s, have died after they were traveling at a high-rate of speed in Antioch, crashing into another car and then a tree, police said. May 15, 2023