The girlfriend of a motorcyclist is speaking out after he was killed in a crash on Highway 4 over Memorial Day weekend.
"My heart was broken," Valerie Randolph said.
On May 27, Randolph said she was heading back home to Antioch after a date with her boyfriend Nykruma Haynes.
Haynes worked as a foreman for a local solar company and Randolph said their love for dogs led to the launch of their own kennel club. But that night, Haynes rode back home separately on his motorcycle and was a few exits ahead of her.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
As Randolph approached Railroad Avenue along Highway 4 in Contra Costa County, traffic came to a stop for nearly 45 minutes.
Randolph tried calling Haynes to tell him she had been delayed, but got no response. While stuck in traffic, she decided to check social media for more information.
“I read something that said 'accident with motorcycle and car.' And then, I looked at the comments and it said 'black motorcycle' and I know that he has a black motorcycle,” she said.
Randolph eventually pulled off to the shoulder and walked towards the scene. It was one of her worst fears.
“I walked over and they uncovered his face,” she said. “I broke down and I held his head and I cried."
According to the California Highway Patrol, Haynes crashed into the rear end of a Kia Optima, which caused him to be thrown off the bike. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
It was the third fatality on Highway 4 since May 10.
A CHP spokesperson said the most recent stretch of fatal accidents on Highway 4 isn’t much different than the dangers they are seeing across the county.
But according to CHP Contra Costa’s Facebook page, out of the 15 deadly car crashes this year, eight of them have taken place on Highway 4.
“Even that night as I look back and reflect, it was the holiday weekend. I didn’t see any CHP," Randolph said.
However, the CHP's Contra Costa division said it was under its "maximum enforcement period" for that weekend, which means an increase in police presence along highways.
For now, Randolph and Haynes’ family have set up a GoFundMe page to help with the costs of funeral services. It’s an opportunity for Randolph to pay tribute to her late boyfriend who was a father, a best friend and the man she was building a future with.
“He’s that energy that everyone needs around them. He’s missed so, so, so dearly,” she said.
