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Deadly tree removed from intersection

County takes action at family's request

By HEATHER RAWLYK, Staff Writer

Published 11/15/08

The sight of the tree her son crashed into alongside Riva Road on Oct. 30 was too much for Jean Desmond to bear as she rode home from his funeral last week.

J. Henson - The Capital
A large tree was removed near the intersection of Grand Isle Rd. at Riva Road, the scene of recent deadly accidents.

The distraught mother turned to her husband, Timothy Desmond Sr., in tears. She wanted the large tree near Glen Isle Road cut down.

Mr. Desmond of Davidsonville remembered a sympathy letter he'd received from County Executive John R. Leopold, after the death of his 29-year-old son, Timothy Aloysius Desmond Jr.

The letter offered the county executive's condolences and at the end, said to call his office if there was anything the family needed.

First thing Nov. 7, two days after the funeral, Mr. Desmond said he dialed the number printed on the letter from Mr. Leopold.

And within three days, the tree was cut down.

Mr. Desmond's call had been transferred to the county executive's personal secretary. Mr. Desmond explained the situation - that his wife couldn't bear to look at the tree, and that it posed a danger to those traveling near Glen Isle Road.

"I didn't expect anything of it," he said.

But just seven hours after he made the call, Mr. Desmond said he was contacted by the county Department of Public Works.

"They wanted to know where the tree was," he said.

He figured public works officials would look into it, but expected it would take weeks to months before anything was done, if anything was done at all.

"Well Monday morning, I got a call from a friend that the tree was being taken down," he said.

Mr. and Mrs. Desmond left their Davidsonville home and quickly rode to the intersection where their beloved son was killed less than two weeks earlier.

At just before 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 30, their son was driving a 2003 Jeep Cherokee near Glen Isle Road in Riva, when he drifted off the roadway on a curve and struck the tree, said Sgt. John Gilmer, a county police spokesman.

He was taken by ambulance with life-threatening injuries to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Parole, where he was pronounced dead. Mr. Desmond's family said he was returning from a CVS Pharmacy in Annapolis when he crashed.

On Monday, Mr. Desmond's parents stood by at the intersection as the tree, which was about 2 feet in diameter, was cut into circular chunks and scattered on the ground.

"I couldn't believe it," Mr. Desmond said. "I wasn't really expecting anything to happen. I know how slow sometimes the government wheels turn. It was quite emotional for us."

Mr. Leopold said that for 25 years he's been sending sympathy letters to families of those who die in Anne Arundel County.

"I always put a line that if I can ever be helpful, let me know," he said. "If they contact me, I like to act quickly."

After he was notified of Mr. Desmond's request, Mr. Leopold said he directed the Department of Public Works to investigate and assess if the tree posed any danger.

"Public works crews went out there with a contractor and determined there was significant damage done to the tree and there was a good chance it could fall into the roadway," said David Abrams, a spokesman for Mr. Leopold.

Mr. and Mrs. Desmond spoke with a man who lives less than 50 feet from the tree. The man told them two others have died after hitting that exact tree, which sits alone right off the right shoulder.

Police could not confirm this. However, they said, two additional people have died on Glen Isle Road near Riva Road since late 2002. There have been 12 accidents reported at that intersection since 2000, police said. Four of those accidents involved a tree at the intersection.

An Edgewater midshipman died in Nov. 2006 when the car he was riding in struck a tree.

Midshipman 2nd Class Charles B. Carr, 20, was pronounced dead near the intersection of Glen Isle Road and Riva Road. The driver of the car, a man, 22, also from Edgewater, was injured but survived.

Police said the man was driving on the small, two-lane road through a wooded area, when he failed to negotiate a curve and hit a tree.

On Oct. 28, 2002, Robert Edward Matthews, 44, of Riva, died when he, too, failed to negotiate a curve on Glen Isle Road at Riva Road. His car slid sideways across the road and hit a tree, police said.

Mr. Desmond said he hopes the removal of the tree his son struck will save lives in the future.

"If you don't make the curve, you run into this tree," he said.

He was shocked at how quickly the county executive took action.

"You don't expect things happening in your government this way," he said. "And you don't expect they would hire a private contractor to take this tree down so quickly. I would like to give them a lot of credit for this and for acting so swiftly on it. And I'm glad it (the tree) is gone so no one else will have to go through something like this."

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County Road - 2008-11-21 20:50:27

Johnathan, This is a county road and the tree cutting was done by a county crew. The state has nothing to do with this issue. This is an example of the finely tuned Leopold PR machine. Is this a bad thing? Not in this case. I'm just as much a tree-hugger as anyone...but what's the loss of this one tree compared to the loss this family suffered? Perhaps the family will plant a new tree in Timothy's memory in a place the tree can flourish

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Nils Pedersen - Arnold, MD - Karma: Neutral

Don't stir & walk away - 2008-11-19 17:32:28

I have refrained from posting further because I don't believe I adequately separated the family & the situation from the point I'm trying to communicate. And by not being able to do so, I feel it has or would cause undo stress & grief to the deceased's family & other loved ones and that is not my intention.

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J. Smith - Rising Sun, MD - Karma: Bad

Welcome to Maryland - 2008-11-18 20:58:27

Because you are witnessing the Maryland's Highway Administration at its best...slow and worthless.

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Johnathan Locke - Edgewater, MD - Karma: Good

Why So Long? - 2008-11-18 20:28:48

Why did it take so long for something to be done regarding this intersection if it was so dangerous? Twelve accidents since 2000 and four of them involving a tree. Another death, unfortunately, finally made the powers that be take some action.

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J. Jovkovich - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

Hey tree hugger - 2008-11-18 15:35:00

Sorry I mean J.Smith no where in this article does it say the family blamed the tree for the accident. All the poor mom said it was hard for her to look at the tree every day that her son hit. I am sure the county took it down out of respect and I am also sure not having it there does make it easier to see. What irritates me about people like you is you had all this negative stuff to say about this grieving family but when people reply to your posting you has nothing to say back. I mean don't stir the pot than just walk away. Also I mean god for bid you were man or woman enough to say that what you said was inconsiderate and just plane wrong. Again no one is blaming the tree and the family even said they will plant one in his honor. All it was about was this grieving mother did not want to stare at this tree anymore that her son hit and so sadly died. Have some respect and think before you post comments.

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M. C - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

Hi Paul Flannagan - 2008-11-18 02:39:18

Just wanted to say Hello to my banned for life friend. Why not just set up a new email, then you can be on here again. Miss you!!!Gotta go go now, have to watch J Smith fight the fires in Cali that are killing all those poor trees!

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Jean R. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

Debbie - 2008-11-17 19:29:44

Because you would have people like JS trying to sue you afterwards. People like that often value one tree over the lives of several people.

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Johnathan Locke - Edgewater, MD - Karma: Good

Two points - 2008-11-17 16:42:46

1) Nobody 'blamed' the tree. Humans err, mechanical devices fail, and unexpected events can cause accidents. It is wholly reasonable to take measures to minimize the damage if any of those things are likely to occur. In this case, multiple lives would have been saved if the action had been taken sooner. Better to remove it to prevent more deaths in the future.

2) Without knowing the details, it sounds like the tree may have been on county property or within their right-of-way, perhaps making them the only ones able to cut it down. People can't just go around cutting down trees on public property.

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brian s. - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

Potentially deadly bush - 2008-11-17 15:28:29

Heading South on Riva Road, it is often difficult to see oncoming traffic when attempting to turn left onto Beards Point Road due to a large bush in the line of sight. I'm not sure whether any accidents have happened due to this bush, but several people have complained to no avail.

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Stephen L. - Shady Side, MD - Karma: Bad

County's fault - 2008-11-17 11:46:45

J. L. why is it always the county's fault. If the tree was that big of an issue, why didn't you, or the residents of that area take action? It always seems, after the fact, that everyone is always waiting on the government. I don't get it.

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Debbie F. - Arnold, MD - Karma: Bad

Get over yourself Smith - 2008-11-17 11:34:14

J. Smith is obviously one of those crazy tree huggers. Probably would have chained himself to it had he been there when they cut it down. They said the tree was so damaged it was most likely going to die and fall into the road endangering more lives. As someone who lost a friend from a dead/damaged tree FALLING ON HIM I can see the reasoning in removing it. Try reading the whole article before you comment Smith.

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Jean Richards - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

JS is kidding, right? - 2008-11-17 07:33:59

Smith, you have to be kidding right? The road was obviously constructed based off of something larger than a tree being in it's path. Im sure cutting down a tree is not going to impede the construction of a road in the first place. As we have seen, there have been several fatal/non-fatal accidents because of the obstruction of view that the tree causes. My only complaint is why it took the county legislation so long to cut it down in the first place after so many accidents. What next, complaints on trimming branches that block the view of a stop sign or are resting on a power line. Its a tree, get over it.

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Johnathan Locke - Edgewater, MD - Karma: Good

Deadly Tree - 2008-11-16 17:52:20

Coming from one of TJ's family members, he did not just run off the road, strike a tree and kill himself.

Had the tree not been there, my 29 year old cousin would be alive today and my Aunt & Uncle and TJ's 2 sisters would not be having to deal with all of us. Don't worry Mr./Ms. Smith, I personally will make sure that we, his family, will plant another tree somewhere in a SAFE area in his honor!

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L. Cain - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Bad

On the contrary - 2008-11-16 17:02:13

Had I run off the road, struck a tree and killed myself the fault would lie with me and me alone. You could hardly blame the tree, which didn't ask for a road to be built next to where it lives. Are we to make all areas where traffic passes devoid of large plant life in the hopes that wayward vehicles will come to a safe stop when their drivers lose control? How far back should they slash & burn? Perhaps we should blame the engineers & workers that constructed the road with too sharp of a turn, or no guard rails? Believe me, I realize that losing a loved one is a traumatic experience and that trying to assign blame is part of the grieving process, so I can understand the family being upset when passing the area that their son died. But to cut down a tree simply because someone died running into it is silly. I mean no disrespect at all to the deceased or their family, but the tree didn't kill anyone.

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J. Smith - Rising Sun, MD - Karma: Bad

Smith - 2008-11-15 20:32:26

That's why they call them 'accidents', Mr. Smith. Had the tree not been there, perhaps Tim may have survived. I suppose you and yours are faultless drivers with faultless cars who are immune to the actions of other drivers.

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T. Jackson - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Neutral

Deadly tree? - 2008-11-15 15:19:47

What did the tree do, run out in front of him? With all due respect to the deceased & his grieving family, I don't see how his death was the tree's fault. Maybe he and the others involved in the accidents at that location should have kept their cars on the road.

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J. Smith - Rising Sun, MD - Karma: Bad