Father loses son in double fatal motorcycle crash during pursuit, shares his grief

NICHOLAS COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - If Shane Brantley could say one more thing to his son Devon, Shane would tell him not to go.

“I love you, stay home,” Shane said. “They were babies, man.”

Just before 3 p.m., Thursday, troopers said a motorcycle was clocked traveling roughly 120 mph down U.S. 19 toward Summersville.

“He said he was going to GoMart there to get gas and coming right back. He was supposed to take me or his brother there to get his old truck, and he never came back,” Shane said.

The driver was Shane’s 19-year-old son Devon Brantley, who is also from Birch River, along with a juvenile passenger.

“His girlfriend, she was close to us, too. They growed up together; they was school sweethearts,” Brantley said.

A sergeant with West Virginia State Police turned on his lights and sirens for a traffic stop of the motorcycle. Troopers say Devon turned onto Youngs Monument Road, then turned back onto Route 19 and hit a log truck.

The two were ejected from the motorcycle and pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

The last conversation with his son plays over in Shane’s mind.

“He always says ‘love ya’ and this time it was like, ‘I love you, Dad.’ It was like a bye,” Shane Brantley said.

The name of the juvenile involved in the crash has not been released by State Police.

Troopers say the crash remains under investigation.

For previous coverage:

19-year-old, juvenile die in motorcycle crash during police chase

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