In a heartbreaking turn of events, a groom-to-be and his cousin were killed in a devastating wrong-way crash on the Henry Hudson Parkway, just one day before the planned wedding. The victims, 38-year-old Kirk Walker and his cousin, 40-year-old Robert McLaurin, were driving home from pre-wedding celebrations on Saturday when a wrong-way driver collided head-on with their Dodge Challenger. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.
According to police reports, the wrong-way driver fled the scene on foot and remains at large. A passenger in the wrong-way vehicle was transported to a local hospital with injuries.
What was meant to be a joyful day filled with celebration turned into a somber gathering as family members came together for a vigil on what should have been Walker’s wedding day. His fiancée, Shauntea Weaver, expressed her profound grief, stating, “We’re supposed to be at my wedding right now. This is supposed to be a wedding at the Royal Manor, not a celebration of death.”
The emotional vigil saw Walker’s mother, Susan Walker, wearing her “mother of the groom” shirt, a poignant reminder of the day’s intended joy. “This is what we’re supposed to be wearing today … But they took my baby. He wanted this wedding so, so much,” she said.
McLaurin’s parents, who had traveled from North Carolina for their nephew’s wedding, were equally devastated. “Today was the day. They didn’t make it,” said Robert McLaurin Sr., McLaurin’s father. “My son was his best friend.”
As the family mourns this unimaginable loss, Walker’s father, Kirk Walker Sr., has a message for the driver who fled the scene: “I want them to see my face. I just want them to know, it ain’t over. It’s not over.”
The tragic incident has left the family and community in deep sorrow, turning what should have been a day of love and union into one of mourning and loss.