Motorcyclist visiting from Georgia killed after Highway 44 crash in Redding

May 3, 2021 Trevor Montgomery

UPDATED: Wednesday, May 5, 4:35 p.m., With coroner’s release of information.

REDDING, Calif. — A man visiting friends from out of state was killed when his motorcycle soared off the westbound Highway 44 at the Continental Street overpass and crashed down onto the roadway below Sunday afternoon, May 2.

Several witnesses, including another motorcyclist the victim had been riding with, stopped immediately after the crash and attempted to render aid, but the victim succumbed to his injuries and passed away at the scene.

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California Highway Patrol, Redding Police Department, Cal Fire-Shasta, and other emergency personnel were dispatched to Continental Street after receiving reports of the solo-motorcycle crash.

When officials arrived they determined the motorcyclist had already succumbed to his injuries and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Shasta County Chief Deputy Coroner Lieutenant Stonehouse later identified 60-year-old, Joseph Preston Jones, of Savannah, Georgia as the victim killed in the collision.

Clearly distraught over the loss of his friend, a man the victim had been riding with later said the victim had been visiting from Georgia when yesterday afternoon’s deadly motorcycle crash occurred. Mike Daly photo

Another motorcyclist who was riding with the victim when the accident happened later said from the scene that he and his friend, who had been visiting from Georgia, were traveling westbound on Highway 44 approaching the Continental Street bridge just before the crash.

Clearly shaken and distraught, the rider who did not provide his name to an SCNS affiliated reported at the scene, said that as the two motorcycles came to the bridge, his friend’s Harley Davidson-style motorcycle left the roadway just before the bridge crossing. The victim’s motorcycle then soared off the freeway, landing on Continental Street below.

CHP’s investigation into the cause of the deadly accident is continuing.

Click any image to open full-size gallery.

Mike Daly photos

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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.