A construction company and three project supervisors were charged in the death of an employee who was crushed when a trench collapsed in San Francisco in 2023, the District Attorney’s Office said Monday.

Alameda County resident Javier Romero, 25, was killed after he became trapped under 8 feet of dirt when a trench collapsed in the area of Oak and Divisadero streets in San Francisco on Sept. 28, 2023. According to prosecutors, Romero was working on a sewer upgrade project in a 2.5-foot-wide, 5-foot-long and 8-foot-deep trench that was not properly supported, and when a vehicle drove by, it collapsed.

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Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.