Goldsby, OK — May 3, 2025, Altus Barnett and two boys were killed and Melynda Byrd and another boy were injured in a truck accident at about 3:45 a.m. on Interstate 35.
Authorities said a 1996 Honda Accord was involved in a crash with a 2023 Mack semi-truck on northbound I-35.
Honda driver Altus Barnett, 56, of Oklahoma City and two boys, ages 8 and 12, died in the crash, according to authorities. Passengers Melynda Byrd and a 13-year-old boy were hospitalized with unspecified injuries.
The truck driver was treated and released at a Norman hospital, authorities said.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the McClain County crash. The accident is still being investigated.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When a crash happens at 3:45 in the morning, visibility and fatigue are immediate concerns, especially when commercial trucks are involved. That early in the day, drivers are often operating on the edge of their alertness, either fighting off the last of the night’s fatigue or pushing through a long shift. That’s a dangerous window for anyone on the road, but particularly for truck drivers responsible for vehicles that weigh up to 80,000 pounds.
Any time a car and a semi-truck collide and multiple people in the smaller vehicle lose their lives, it’s worth looking closely at how both vehicles ended up in the same space at the same time. Did one of them drift? Was someone stopped or moving too slowly for conditions? Was there enough lighting for either driver to see the other clearly and respond in time? And crucially, was fatigue or inattention on either side a factor?
Trucks don’t crash on their own. In a case like this, the underlying question is whether the truck was being operated according to the conditions, which demand more caution when visibility is low and reaction time is compromised by the hour. If it turns out the crash was avoidable with a bit more distance, alertness or restraint, that’s something the trucking company needs to reckon with, not just in this case, but across its fleet.
What happened here wasn’t just a loss of control. It was a failure of risk management in the most unforgiving kind of environment: a dark highway, early in the morning, with a truck and a car trying to share space that neither could afford to give.
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