A 23-year-old Kalama man died in a single-vehicle accident Friday evening, according to a report in the Longview Daily News.

Derek J. Barker was traveling westbound in a 2003 Toyota Camry when he struck at large tree in the 1800 block of Green Mountain Road at about 6:20 p.m., the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office told the Daily News. Emergency responders declared Barker dead at the scene.

Speed is considered to be a factor in the accident, and the case remains under investigation, the sheriff's office said.

Barker was a graduate of Washougal High School who had moved to Kalama several months ago to live with his grandparents, Helen and Jim Barker, Jim Barker told the Daily News Saturday.

"He was an all-around good kid with a good heart, but he was kind of stubborn and wanted to do things his way. That, of course, would get him in Dutch," Barker said.

Barker told the newspaper his grandson was in between jobs. He had worked periodically at a Subway sandwich shop but was expecting to start working at a Woodland chain company sometime this month. Before moving to Kalama Derek Barker had worked at a Vancouver area computer wafer manufacturer, Jim Barker told the newspaper.

He didn't know much more about the accident, except to say that his grandson had a former girlfriend in the Green Mountain area and may have been up there trying to see her.

"It's a terrible thing to have to bury your grandson," Barker told the Daily News.