A father put up a cross where his son was killed. Neighbors complained.

With no burial site to visit, Gavin Hopkins’ family and friends instead go to the place where he died. They pull onto the shoulder of Route 152 in Fallston, then leave flowers, candy, pictures and notes by the guardrail. It’s close to where Hopkins lost control of his motorcycle and collided with a mailbox and a tree on private property on March 21.

“That’s where he took his last breath,” his younger sister Laela Hopkins, 18, said. “It will forever mean something to me and my family.”

But the dynamic between the residents of two houses along the stretch of road where he died and those coming to mourn has been tense.

Within a few days of Gavin Hopkins’ death, friends and relatives began leaving flowers by the tree his motorcycle hit. Residents called police, saying the mourners were trespassing.

Gavin was cremated so there is no burial site. In June, Hopkins’ family put up a wooden cross directly behind the guardrail and surrounded it with gravel. His father, Brad Hopkins, said he believed the cross was on state-owned property.

He said state highway officials told him that neighbors’ complaints about trespassers continued and he had a week to remove the cross. When he didn’t do so, they took it down.

Then, last month, one of the families obtained a temporary peace order against Brad Hopkins, escalating a clash between a family searching for a place to grieve and neighbors who value their privacy.

The residents of the two houses on Fallston Road where Gavin Hopkins died declined to comment, and both said they would share their side of the story after the court proceedings for the peace order Aug. 21.

Brad Hopkins called the peace order “ridiculous” and said there was no need for it.

“I lost my son, and on top of this, I’m getting the cross taken down,” he said. “It’s like one kick after another.”

‘You’re trespassing’

Gavin Hopkins was months shy of his 21st birthday when he left on his motorcycle for Pennsylvania to help a friend fix his truck. He always loved cars and bikes, his father said, and worked as an auto mechanic at a dealership in Owings Mills.

“Every time he would drive down the road and see a Lamborghini or Ferrari, he’d take a picture and text it to me,” Brad Hopkins said.

Gavin Hopkins was heading north “at a high rate of speed” on Fallston Road in Harford County just after 3:30 p.m., according to Maryland State Police. He lost control of his motorcycle and veered off the roadway. He struck a mailbox, then a guardrail. As his motorcycle skidded across one property, he hit a tree and came to a stop on the property next door.

Rescue workers pronounced him dead at the scene.

The next day, his sister came by to leave flowers, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups — her brother’s favorite candy — and a note at the tree where he died. She said she didn’t think about the fact that it was on someone’s property.

Nobody came out to say anything, she said, and she left after a few minutes. She told Brad Hopkins she’d swung by the site to leave some things for her brother.

Later that afternoon, Brad Hopkins drove by and pulled over onto the road’s shoulder. He could not find the flowers his daughter had left, so he knocked on the door of the house with the tree. He said the residents answered through their home security camera and told him he was trespassing.

“ I said, ‘Look, I want the flowers back. I want the candy back. My daughter paid for that and put them down for my son.’ They said, ‘You can find them in the trash can on the side of the house,’” Hopkins said. He took everything out of the trash and set it back out by the guardrail.

That same week, five or six of Gavin Hopkins’ friends from high school stopped by the tree where he crashed. It was around 9 p.m., they said.

“We were just sitting there, taking a moment to think about stuff and just process everything, and then the police showed up,” said Cody Knight, 20. The police told them they were trespassing on private property, so they left.

Ever since, Gavin Hopkins’ friends and family said, they have stayed by the guardrail and tried to keep out of the way of the neighbors. Knight said he has seen residents of the two houses near the crash site filming them through the window or from their porch.

“I’ve been back a couple times, but every single time it’s like I’m being watched, and it’s uncomfortable,” said Vana Belsan, 21, another friend from high school. “I would just like to visit my friend in peace.”

‘It’s very frustrating’

Roadside memorials aren’t allowed on state highways, according to the Maryland State Highway Administration. Brad Hopkins said he has seen dozens of similar memorials on roads across the state and that a highway maintenance engineer said he could put up the cross. When reached by phone, engineer Nick Vogel referred questions to the agency’s media office.

The state holds easements along state roads, and the Maryland State Highway Administration regulates signs within the right of way. Placing roadside memorials is a safety issue for drivers and pedestrians, a department spokesperson said in an email. She encouraged mourners to consider alternatives such as the Adopt-a-Highway program or a formal roadway dedication.

One of the families sought a peace order against Brad Hopkins on July 31, alleging he trespassed, harassed, committed threats of violence and was “loitering and taking pictures on private property.”

The order accused him of building “a memorial thing outside our front yard without government approval and they have been out there every week.” The family felt unsafe, according to the order.

Hopkins could face criminal prosecution, imprisonment or a fine if he returns to the site, according to the peace order.

Brad Hopkins said he wants to put the cross back up but doesn’t want to risk it being taken down again.

“It breaks my heart every time I drive by there and there’s no cross,” he said.