{"id":365467,"date":"2026-07-08T15:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T15:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/365467\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T15:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T15:22:12","slug":"family-of-zion-branch-hires-attorney-ben-crump-in-search-for-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/365467\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of Zion Branch hires attorney Ben Crump in search for answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Karamell<\/p>\n

Karamell Brown, mother of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, looks down as attorney Ben Crump speaks at a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Karamell<\/p>\n

Karamell Brown, mother of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, speaks during a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"A<\/p>\n

A relative of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, wipes her eyes during a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Taylor, middle, speaks while joined by Ben Crump and the family of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, hold a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Ben<\/p>\n

Ben Crump and the family of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, hold a photo of Branch during a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Taylor and the family of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, hold a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Family<\/p>\n

Family members of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, hold pictures of her during a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Karamell<\/p>\n

Karamell Brown, mother of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, wipes her face during a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Ben<\/p>\n

Ben Crump and the family of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, hold a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Taylor watches as Ben Crump and the family of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, hold a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam Taylor, Ben Crump and the family of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery, hold a press conference at The Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n

The family of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old Nothing Bundt Cakes employee killed when a vehicle crashed into a storefront, have retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump to search for answers on what led to Branch’s death, they said during a Tuesday news conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Branch died last Tuesday afternoon when a truck crashed into the bakery shop\u2019s Atascocita storefront. Four others were injured. Branch\u2019s family said they only learned that Branch had died at around 5 p.m., when the crash had occurred at 3 p.m. They have not filed a lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The family said they are planning Branch\u2019s funeral, but did not share details at the news conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Crump and co-counsel Sam Taylor of the Lanier Law Firm joined Branch\u2019s family at the conference at the law firm.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: New details emerge in deadly Nothing Bundt Cakes crash that killed 1, injured 4 in Atascocita<\/a><\/p>\n

The driver told officers that his foot slipped off the brake and pressed the accelerator as he attempted to park in front of the store, according to the Harris County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Branch\u2019s family and the lawyers are waiting to see if first responders conducted a toxicology report on the driver. The driver has not been cited and the incident is still under investigation.\u00a0\u201cWe don\u2019t have all the answers yet but we will find them,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n

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READ MORE: Mother of teen killed in Nothing Bundt Cakes crash pledges to open bakery on daughter’s behalf<\/a><\/p>\n

Carol Roberson, Branch’s grandmother, said during the news conference that officers did not immediately share information about Branch\u2019s whereabouts and told her family to \u201ccalm down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Branch had worked at the bakery for about three months, said her mother, Karamell Brown.<\/p>\n

Brown said Branch has loved baking since she was five years old and knew that she eventually wanted to open her own bakery. Brown said Branch had an art book where she detailed what the bakery would look like.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her favorite treat to bake was cupcakes, or really, \u201canything she could put butter in,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cShe had her own set of stuff she used in the kitchen. Her own specific cupcake pans and mixer bowls that were just for her,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n

Beyond baking, Branch was a stellar student, Brown said. She had\u00a0obtained an associate degree while enrolled in high school and was recently accepted to the University of Houston-Downtown, where she planned to pursue a finance degree.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also designed her own clothing, volunteered with special education children at an elementary school and had a close relationship with her sister, Zara, who is a year younger. Brown, a single mother, said she could rely on Branch for anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody that\u2019s reached out to me since the tragedy has happened, it\u2019s all good stories: from her friends, the people at the school, the community about where she works at, any of the employees that had encountered her, her Uber drivers,\u201d Brown said. \u201cAnyone who has encountered Zion has felt a pleasantry. She was a really bright light.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Every morning, Brown popped by Branch\u2019s room, asked if she slept ok, and the two would discuss what the day looked like \u2014 what time Branch needed to go to school, and later her work schedule. Brown said Branch, her firstborn, knew exactly what she wanted in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the true essence of what a person would want out of a daughter,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI felt like she was cheated. I wish I could give her those chances because she looked forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Karamell Brown, mother of Zion Branch, a 19-year-old who was killed when a truck crashed into Atascocita bakery,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-365467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}