RIP: Zach Love, March 3, 2014 – February 1, 2024

Marion: Feb, 2, 2024

Nine (9) year old Zachary “Zach” Love passed away at home Thursday February 1^st. Zach was a victim of a car accident caused by his father Brandon Love on January 3 of last year. Zach was seriously injured in the accident with severe brain damage. His six (6) year old sister who was also in the accident survived with minor physical injuries. Two other teens survived with injuries who were in a truck that Love hit.

Zach’s father, according to reports was depressed and was not supposed to be with the children but he picked them up that day without their mother’s knowledge. She had previously filed a protective order against Brandon Love. The judge dropped it after ten (10) days advising them to co-parent.

One week later Nicole received a phone call from Mission Hospital to come quickly as her son Zach may not survive the accident he had been in. A relative called stating they knew he (Brandon) had gone off “the deep end” with the kids in the car and they were trying to find him before telling her. Neither child was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.

Brandon Love was charged with the following:

1 Count of Felony Child Abuse
1 Count of Misdemeanor Child Abuse
1 Count of Misdemeanor Aggressive Driving

Marion police say Love was served with an indictment for his charges on Oct. 5, 2023 and that he was scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 6, 2023. He is now scheduled for an administrative hearing on Monday February 5^th for his previous charges. It remains to be seen if any additional charges will be filed now after Zach’s death.

Zach was taken to Duke Medical Center in Durham after having multiple emergency surgeries at Mission Hospital in Asheville. He was in a coma for three months there and had endured multiple surgeries for his injuries and only recently returned home for care. Zach’s mother Nicole had started a facebook page called Zach’s Journey where she discussed his health, care, and candid posts about how the situation was affecting not only her but her two other children in the home.

Multiple people and organizations have come together in the community to help support Nicole and the family. It is with a heavy heart that we all say goodbye to such a young warrior.