Victims from Bay Point and Oakley identified
By CHP – Contra Costa
Saturday night, Sept. 4, 2021, at approximately 11:14 pm, CHP Contra Costa was advised of a vehicle vs. pedestrians collision at 8321 Byron Hwy in Knightsen. Upon CHP and emergency personnel arrival, two pedestrians had been struck by a vehicle and that vehicle (a 2002 Subaru Impreza), along with the driver (18-year-old male from Knightsen), were also located. Tragically both pedestrians were killed as a result of the crash (18-year-old female from Bay Point and 16-year-old male from Oakley).
The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Office identified the deceased pedestrians as Kassandra Sepulveda of Bay Point and Luis Esparza of Oakley.
The 18-year-old driver of the Subaru was investigated for DUI at the scene and subsequently placed under arrest for suspicion of Felony DUI driving, resulting in the death of both pedestrians. The driver was transported to the Martinez detention facility and booked into jail for: FELONY DUI 23153(a)VC and Gross Vehicular Manslaughter 191.5(a)PC.
The suspected DUI and Manslaughter driver is Colby Sharver.
It’s not fair that they let the men go just because of his race or the money he has he should go to court
He went to court dumba**
He made a terrible mistake but I personally know him and he’s a beautiful person. We’re grieving those who died and their families but also the devastating situation Colby and his family are in due to this. Also, they were partying on the side of a narrow road. And walking on the shoulder. They could have been struck by a sober person just as easily. Praying for everyone.
As of right now I haven’t heard anybody been killed by a sober driver on the road.Colby made the dision to drink and drive, road. Led him to killed to innocent person. he should pay the full consequences
You’re horrible for excusing his disgusting actions. He needs to pay the full price for murdering two people.
According to a comment on the Twitter page of KTVU reporter Henry K. Lee the BAC of the involved young man was under the legal adult limit of 0.08. There is also an accident scene photo that shows police markers in the middle of the travel lane.
In another Twitter comment made elsewhere the inference was made that at-least one of the deceased young people was walking in the middle of the road with their back to oncoming traffic, and that both had been partying and may have been intoxicated.
Byron Hwy is quite narrow and is poorly lit with a 45-mph speed limit. The travel lanes are only about 9 feet wide. The paved shoulders are only one foot wide. The total paved roadway width including the shoulders is only 22 feet.
According to multiple peer-reviewed traffic safety studies driver recognition and reaction time is between 1.5 and 2 seconds, with a 0.4 second standard deviation. That means that 68% of all drivers take between 1.1 seconds and 2.4 seconds to recognize, react-to, and take evasive action to someone walking in the road late at night.
The posted speed limit of 45 mph is 66 feet per-second. Your low-beam headlights only illuminate about 100 feet +/-. The chance that any driver would have seen someone walking with their back to oncoming traffic in a travel lane on a poorly-lit rural road this narrow is poor. Lots of drivers have hit deer and even livestock standing in the middle of the road late at night too.
You can walk fairly-safely on a dark rural road at night but you should walk toward oncoming traffic so that you can walk away from the road before the traffic gets to you. NEVER assume that any oncoming driver can see you walking in the dark in-time to avoid hitting you.
You will greatly increase your chance of being seen by an oncoming driver late at night if you wear white or any Day-Glo color too. If you only wear dark colors the chance is very poor that the driver will see you in-time to take evasive action and either avoid you or stop in time.
You even need to be aware of traffic coming from behind you in the other lane, in the event that they try to pass another vehicle, swerve to miss an animal in the road or a pothole, or for other reasons. You need to be ready to quickly move off the road to avoid being hit.
If one of the victims were walking in the travel lane with their back to traffic how many of us would have swerved right to try to miss them when you only have 1.5 seconds to somehow avoid them, driving at 45 mph? Likely more than half. Doing that you hit the other victim on the shoulder.
I drove 18-wheel trucks for 31 years. I have close to 3 million miles of truck driving experience, plus another million miles in cars, and I have a masters degree in urban & regional planning from a PAC12 university too.
This case is a tragedy for all involved but with the young man’s BAC less than the adult legal limit of 0.08 this isn’t a good case to claim that intoxicated driving caused the accident.
Here is the one Henry K. Lee Twitter post: Note that the police accident scene markers are in the middle of the one travel lane.
https://twitter.com/henrykleektvu/status/1436434243891068929
https://twitter.com/YouUgly6667/status/1436523999610093573
For every one drink, your BAC goes up by about 0.02 percent, so reaching a BAC of 0.08 percent takes about four to five drinks. It is illegal for any person to operate a vehicle with a: BAC of 0.08% or higher, if the person is 21 years old or older. BAC of 0.01% or higher, if the person is under 21 years old. Colby is 18. Inexcusable.
I doubt you’d be so forgiving if one of your family members was killed in this manner. You make no mention of how fast Colby was driving. He was said to be traveling at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.
You are basing these arguments on Twitter while being unaware of the reality of the situation. Only the aftermath was visible; no one saw what actually occurred. One of the victims had just arrived at the gathering, so there was no chance that she or he was drunk, and both were under the legal drinking age.
Whereabouts of victims before being hit cannot be determined using the marks on the ground at the police scene. Their bodies took the blow so brutally that they flew in different locations. We recognize that you have a bias towards Colby. The case and the specifics of everything have nothing to do with your driving experience.
This could have been absolutely avoided and shouldn’t have ever happened. Please act civilly, and allow the judge make the final determination regarding the relevant facts.
They weee not walking along the road. Kassandras family and witnesses are trying to clear up this misconception that is being told to the public right now. They were on a property and not on or crossing the street. What matters is that those two beautiful souls are dead now and he was speeding over 100 miles per hour, which is reckless and dangerous on any road. He also tried to run from the scene which shows lack of remorse, so stop trying to defend him.
Colby was going over 100 miles per hour, it doesn’t matter if someone else could have hit him what matters is that he did and those two people are dead now. He tried to RUN after he hit two people who were once living and will never walk this earth again, he was going to try and flee the scene. They were not crossing or walking on the road, but Colby hit them due to his speeding and influence of alcohol. Don’t say that you are “praying for everyone” when you also say that they could have been hit by someone else it is not their fault that they were RUN OVER.
So are you saying that everyone who drinks and drives should get one freebie if they kill someone. He made the decision to drive drunk that killed. So if someone of your family is killed by someone who made the mistake of getting behind the wheel drunk, you would respond by saying….it’s OK???
Thank you for stating the obvious. These people are disgusting!
After reading all these comments defending this murderer, it’s no wonder this monster hasn’t paid for his crime. Pays to be white in America, you can kill anyone without repercussions.
Justice for Kassandra & Luis!
https://instagram.com/justiceforkass
Why isn’t his mug shot posted anywhere in the media?! I would like to see what this Murder looks like. Your 18 you shouldn’t been drinking let alone driving while drinking. Law is law and he should be handle to the full extent of it just like any minority adult would have to. He is a murder and his family friends should be ashamed of themselves getting on here trying to defend “his mistake”.! Disgusting!