SLO County mom killed at deadly intersection days before baby’s 1st birthday. Here’s her story
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Deadly Driving in SLO County
A multi-part series by The Tribune
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Where are SLO County’s deadliest roads? These 3 spots have the most fatal crashes
Why are people dying on SLO County highways? Here’s a look at causes behind fatal crashes
SLO County mom killed at deadly intersection days before baby’s 1st birthday. Here’s her story
When will SLO County’s deadliest roads be fixed? These improvements are already in the works
Editor’s Note: This is the third in a four-part series about deadly car crashes in San Luis Obispo County.
Paso Robles resident Brianna Mae Thomas was set on throwing her son, Sean, the best birthday party possible.
Her bright-eyed baby — the center of her world — was turning a year old.
Thomas, 27, had already settled on a outer space theme for the event. She ordered a cake, reserved a spot at a local park and invited family and friends.
All that was left to complete was a final shopping trip for wrapping paper, streamers and other party essentials.
Thomas never made it to the store.
While driving eastbound on Wellsona Road in Paso Robles on Aug. 28, the single mom’s car was struck by a semi-tractor trailer truck traveling northbound on Highway 101. Thomas died on impact.
The intersection where Thomas died is one of the most dangerous places to drive in San Luis Obispo County.
Who was Paso Robles woman killed in crash?
Thomas went to Lillian Larsen Elementary School in San Miguel and attended Paso Robles High School.
She was a proud graduate of Grizzly Youth Academy, a California National Guard program that teaches at-risk youth self-discipline and life skills, according to her mother, Kimberly Tuttle.
The eldest of eight children, Thomas was a devoted big sister who took care of her siblings, babysitting them often.
Thomas had strong relationships with all of her siblings and cousins, her mom said.
However, Thomas struggled as a young adult. She fell into an abusive relationship and got involved in “party girl” antics, her mother said, frequently abusing drugs and alcohol.
Thomas desperately wanted to be a mother but had a series of miscarriages, Tuttle said.
Finally, in early 2023, Thomas got pregnant with Sean. She was overjoyed.
Determined to get her life back on track, Thomas got a new job at a cashier at Oak Hill Market in Paso Robles after her son was born.
“She was trying to rebuild herself and do good for her and her son,” Tuttle said. “She had just gotten herself in a content place (when the crash happened).”
One of Tuttle’s final memories of Thomas involves an early August weekend when she and her daughter took Sean to the beach for the first time.
Sean practiced taking a few steps on the sand at Morro Strand State Beach. Thomas shot a video on her phone before wrapping the nearly 1-year-old in her arms for a few family photos.
“We were so proud of her,” Tuttle said of her daughter. “We were watching her grow into this mom and doing all these great things for herself and making changes. ... This was a big deal for her — being a mom.”
How did SLO County mom die?
On the morning of her death, Thomas handed off Sean to her mother at the San Paso Truck Stop between Paso Robles and San Miguel, where Tuttle works.
Tuttle and her grandson planned to grab lunch in Paso Robles while Thomas shopped for last-minute birthday supplies. Thomas would meet them back at home in an hour or so, according to Tuttle.
Thomas had just left the truck stop at 81 Wellsona Road when she drove straight through the Wellsona Road intersection with Highway 101 — directly into the path of a big rig barreling down Highway 101.
Thomas did not yield the right-of-way to the semi truck, driven by 44-year-old Justin Levi Adams of Pahrump, Nevada, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Adams did not have time to stop or slow down, the release said.
The semi truck collided with the right front door of Thomas’ car, killing her instantly. Adams was uninjured.
Tuttle received a call from a friend at the truck stop who saw the aftermath of the crash.
She rushed to her daughter’s side before paramedics arrived, but it was already too late she said. Tuttle waited with her daughter’s body until help arrived.
Highway 101 intersection has history of fatal collisions
Over the past decade, eight people have died in traffic incidents at the intersection of Highway 101 and Wellsona Road, according to the CHP and data from California’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System.
The crossing has a fatal collision rate higher than the statewide average for the past 10 years, according to the California Department of Transportation.
Tuttle has worked at the San Paso Truck Stop for seven years. In that time, she said, she’s seen several traffic collisions occur at the crossing.
In order to get to the other side of Wellsona Road or turn left onto Highway 101, vehicles are forced to make an unprotected cross of Highway 101 near the truck stop. This puts drivers at risk of broadside and left-turn merge-related collisions.
About a decade before Tuttle’s daughter died at the crossing, the son of Tuttle’s neighbor lost his life at the same intersection, she said.
San Miguel friends killed in Christmas Eve crash
San Miguel resident David Castillo, 42, died there in a crash on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2014, along with three friends from his hometown.
Castillo, his 22-year-old girlfriend Crystal Lee Reuck and their friends — Taylor M. Swarthout, 22, and Karen Michelle Szasz, 45 — were driving on Highway 101 to a holiday dinner when their vehicle collided with a semi truck that was crossing the freeway at the Wellsona Road intersection.
All four people in Castillo’s car were killed. Philip Ken Trujillo, the driver of the truck, was uninjured.
Castillo’s father, Ron Castillo, said his son, his girlfriend and their friends had picked up presents from Reuck’s grandparents’ house and were headed to a family dinner at his home.
When the quartet failed to show up, Ron Castillo assumed they had decided to stay at Reuck’s house.
On Christmas morning, Castillo received the call that his son and friends had died in the crash.
“We all miss him — everybody, top to bottom,” Ron Castillo said of his son. “All my friends, they still remember (him). When Christmas Eve comes around, everybody gives me a hug.”
Nearly 10 years after he lost his son, Castillo said he was shocked to hear that Thomas had died at the same spot his son had gotten into the fatal crash.
He recalled seeing Thomas at neighborhood barbecues as a kid and buying cookie dough from her during school fundraisers.
Castillo said he was sad that the intersection had not been fixed in the decade that passed between the deaths of his son and Thomas.
When will underpass be built at deadly crossing?
Caltrans plans to add an underpass just south of the intersection, but roadwork has been delayed for years.
The agency first announced designs to build an underpass at the site in 2017.
Other than a few flashing beacons to warn travelers about potential cross-traffic, no construction work was underway as of Thursday, Nov. 20.
Roadwork is now slated to start in 2025, according to Caltrans.
Tuttle wishes construction had started sooner.
“It’s been a 10-year stretch between David’s accident and Brianna’s accident. How many people have to be hurt?” Tuttle asked. “It takes a tragedy sometimes for people to be aware of safety issues or things that need to be changed to bring about change.”
