A groom-to-be was tragically killed in a wrong-way crash in Manhattan early Saturday, just one day before his wedding, leaving his devastated bride shattered on what should have been the happiest day of her life.
“I should be in my wedding dress right now, not in mourning,” said the heartbroken fiancée, Shauntea Weaver, 40. Her fiancé, Kirk Walker, and his cousin, Rob McLaurin, were both killed by a wrong-way driver on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Harlem.
“I keep feeling like this is a bad dream and I’ll wake up and everything will be back to normal,” Weaver told The Post. “Every hour since it happened, I’m overwhelmed by a new emotion.”
Walker, 38, a father of three from Manhattan, was celebrating his bachelor party with McLaurin, 40, when their Dodge Challenger was struck head-on around 2:20 a.m. by a pickup truck traveling the wrong way, according to police and a Facebook post. The collision turned their car into a mangled wreck near West 154th Street.
Walker and Weaver were set to marry in a grand ceremony at the Royal Manor in Garfield, New Jersey. A catering hall representative confirmed that the wedding had been canceled due to “a fatal crash.”
“Our ceremony was scheduled for 5 p.m. today—just hours away,” Weaver said. “He passed away 24 hours before our wedding. It’s devastating for me and for his three children, who adored him. They are heartbroken.”
“He was such a generous, hard-working man with a heart of gold,” she continued. “He’d do anything for anyone and worked tirelessly for our successful car rental business.”
Weaver is now seeking justice for her late fiancé. “The detectives assured me they would do everything possible to secure justice,” she said. “They have the driver’s DNA from the airbags, and the passenger, who is hospitalized with broken legs, needs to come forward.”
“Two lives were lost due to reckless driving,” she added. “The responsible parties need to be held accountable.”
Walker’s neighbor, Tommy Lee, described him as a beloved community member. “He was family-oriented, helpful, and smart. An amazing guy.”
The news of Walker’s death deeply shocked his community. “What! No!” exclaimed one man upon hearing the news, repeating “No” in disbelief.
Friends and family have expressed their grief on social media. “At 5:30 a.m., I received the heartbreaking news that two of my cousins were killed in a car accident,” wrote Akilañ Ke-Ki Woods on Facebook. “He was supposed to get married today! How do we go from planning a celebration to organizing two funerals?”
Alexis Stewart described Walker on Facebook as a “neighborhood ‘nephew’ to everyone in the community,” noting that his cousin also perished.
The driver of the pickup truck fled the scene, as did the passenger, but police apprehended the passenger about 30 feet from the crash site. The current status of any arrests or charges is unclear.
