‘Don’t want him to become a statistic’: Family grieves loss of son after crash

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - A Mount Pleasant family is grieving after losing their son in a fatal motorcycle crash on Highway 17 over the weekend.

Brandon “Eric” Newsome, 19, the driver of the motorcycle, died Saturday from injuries he sustained in the crash, according to the Charleston County Coroner.

Newsome’s family and friends constructed a memorial near Highway 17 and Lexington Drive, where the fatal crash took place.

Since the crash, it has been filled with Brandon’s loved ones, writing messages on the cross, leaving flowers or just reflecting on a life taken too soon.

“I just don’t want him to become a statistic. That’s my biggest thing. I want people to drive past here and know that this is him and that he existed, and he was a person, he’s not going to be a number,” Brandon’s sister, Isabel Newsome, said.

Family members said he was the type of person who brought light into people’s lives and put smiles on their faces.

“It surprised me honestly; it made me rely on someone, he made me understand myself more as a person,” Brandon’s brother, Shane Newsome, said while describing what it was like having Brandon as a big brother.

Isabel said she’s been blown away by the way the community has rallied around their family, including one Mount Pleasant woman who shared she was actually with Brandon after the crash.

“That is something that I’ve clung to these past two days, to know that she was here, and he knew and deep down I know he heard her and knew that it was OK and that everything was going to be OK, and that he had people waiting for him on the other side,” Isabel said.

The family said they want people to pay more attention to the roads, and to slow down while they’re driving because every life matters.

“Just try to be more mindful of people, especially on those bikes. I mean, sometimes they’re so much harder to see and I know personally that they’re incredibly hard to see. But I just wish people would look more and take another second, instead of just rushing to get somewhere,” Isabel said.

The Mount Pleasant Police Department is investigating the crash.

They’re asking anyone with any information to contact Officer Lipari at LLipari@tompsc.com.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.