2 brothers killed in Lexington County crash were ‘inseparable’

Two brothers who were inseparable in life were also together in the crash that killed them both.

Wade Epting, 27, and his brother Harley Epting, 23, died after a car crash near Gilbert on Wednesday, which was the elder Epting’s birthday, according to Lexington Coroner Margaret Fisher. The two were in a car driven by Wade Epting that crashed into a tractor-trailer turning left onto the roadway in front of them.

“He was my son’s best friend,” said Emily Edwards, 23, who has a 4-year-old son, Ayden, with Wade Epting.

Edwards said Wade Epting wasn’t “the type to go out and party,” but instead went to church regularly with his father and enjoyed the outdoors. After Ayden was born, she said, Wade included him in his outdoor adventures, even buying the toddler a smaller kayak that matched his.

If someone hurt their son’s feelings, Wade wouldn’t dismiss it, she said.

“He always made it seem to Ayden like it was a big deal,” she said. “He tried to work with him through it and never blew off Ayden’s feelings like, ‘You’re just 4; it’s not a big deal.’”

Wade Epting was driving the 2008 Chevolet sedan east on Pond Branch Road at 8:20 p.m. near Interstate 20 when the car crashed into the side of a tractor-trailer, which was turning left onto the roadway from I-20, according to Lance Cpl. David Jones of the S.C. Highway Patrol. The truck driver was not injured.

Jones said neither of the brothers was wearing a seat belt. The crash remains under investigation by the Highway Patrol’s accident reconstruction team.

Lamont Summers said he met Wade several years ago when they worked at Amick Farms.

“It was like we were brothers from another mother,” said Summers, 35. “We just conversed like we grew up together.”

They further bonded in talks about fatherhood, and reunited over the summer after running into each other at a Walmart.

“He had all this hair on his face,” Summers said, laughing about Epting’s beard. “It was like we picked up where we left off.”

The brothers were each other’s best friend, Edwards said.

“Out of all (Wade’s) friends, that was the guy who was always right next to him,” she said of Harley. “They were inseparable. Everywhere Wade was, Harley was. Everywhere Harley was, Wade was.”

Funeral arrangements for the brothers have not yet been announced. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help cover funeral expenses.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 7:30 PM with the headline "2 brothers killed in Lexington County crash were ‘inseparable’."