Relatives mourn death of Navy sailor in chain-reaction crash near Camp Pendleton

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) – Loved ones are remembering a Navy sailor killed in a chain reaction crash on I-5 last week near Camp Pendleton.

“He came to visit me in Missouri about three weeks ago. He hugged me and said, ‘Mom, I love you!’” Anquenette McDonald said.

For a grieving mother and aunt, memories are precious and bittersweet.

“I wake up and think this can't be true,” McDonald said through tears.

Their nightmare began last Thursday, around 3 a.m.

Jess Davis, 38, was among five motorcyclists riding southbound on I-5, returning from an event in Los Angeles. CHP says a Jeep collided with a pickup truck near Camp Pendleton. The motorcyclists were too close to avoid the crash.

Davis and two other bikers died at the scene. The Jeep driver died days later. Four other people were injured in the chain-reaction crash. Davis's loved ones are haunted by the details.

“His last thoughts are what's going through my mind, what was he thinking,” said Jessica Davis, Davis' aunt.

Jessica calls Davis, a husband and father of three, as well as several adult stepchildren, a devoted father and a sailor in the Navy, where he worked as a cook.

“He loved serving the county. He was very proud,” Jessica Davis said.

Davis spent 19 years in the Navy and served on the attack submarine USS Alexandria, based in Point Loma. He was also very excited, as he had recently taken an exam in hopes of being promoted to the rank of “chief.”

Those close to him say Davis, confident, loving and cheerful, was the glue that held the family together.

“Jess had the most beautiful smile. He was like a ray of sunshine, like a breath of fresh air, that’s what Jess was,” McDonald said.

Davis, who started riding more than a decade ago, also loved his biker family and being on his motorcycle.

“I think it gave him some freedom, you know. He could just be who he was and do what he loved,” McDonald said.

His family takes some comfort in the fact that he was with his biker family at the time of his death. His death, his mother says, is difficult to accept.

“I just want to know where he is and when he's coming back… I don't want to believe he's gone,” McDonald said.

Neither alcohol nor drugs appear to be the cause of this chain reaction accident.

Any witnesses to the accident are asked to call the Oceanside CHP office at 760-643-3400.