James McDaniel, 20, Colten Garcia, 20, Kaden Ashby, 21, and Kaiden Radford, 21, were identified as the four young men killed in a crash in Charleston, West Virginia. The four were from Raleigh County and were traveling together when their vehicle left an elevated section of interstate near the I-77 and I-64 split.
The crash happened late Friday night, Aug. 21, near Pennsylvania Avenue. Police said the vehicle struck a concrete barrier on the interstate before going over the edge and falling into the Martin Marietta gravel yard below. The drop was about 42 feet.
All four men were pronounced dead at the scene. The violent crash left their families facing the sudden loss of four young people who were only 20 or 21 years old. Friends and others who knew them have been left trying to make sense of what happened during what was supposed to be an ordinary night out.
Police have said the four may have been leaving the Jason Aldean concert at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. Because of where the crash happened, investigators believe they had been on the interstate for only a short time before the vehicle went over the retaining wall.
The Charleston Police Department is still investigating what caused the crash. Authorities have not announced a final explanation for why the vehicle struck the barrier and left the elevated roadway. Investigators are working to piece together the events leading up to the deadly impact.
The crash has also brought fresh attention to that section of interstate. Police said it was the third crash in the area within a week and the second during that period in which a vehicle went over the edge of the retaining wall. That history has raised new questions about what can be done to make the stretch safer.
For the families of McDaniel, Garcia, Ashby and Radford, though, the focus is much closer to home. Four lives were lost in a matter of seconds, and four families are now dealing with a loss that cannot be undone. The young men were not simply names in a police report. They were sons, brothers, friends and people with their own plans for the future.
As the investigation continues, their names remain at the center of the tragedy: James McDaniel, Colten Garcia, Kaden Ashby and Kaiden Radford. Their deaths have brought grief to Raleigh County and Charleston, while those who knew them are left holding on to memories of four young lives that ended far too soon.
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