A bride and groom are celebrating their wedding behind bars after allegedly running down a groomsman last week.
Bride and groom charged with groomsman’s death
On Wednesday, local authorities in Michigan reported that they have pressed murder charges against a newlywed couple, after the groom is alleged to have killed a groomsman by deliberately hitting him with a vehicle the day of their wedding.
Flint Police Department (FPD) officers discovered Terry Lewis Taylor Jr., 29, gravely wounded at around 8 p.m. last Friday, after an emergency caller said that a vehicle had struck him.
The FPD later uncovered that Taylor had served as a groomsman on the day that he was run over.
The groom and his pal allegedly got into an argument that escalated into the recently married man actually going out of his way to hit Taylor with at a high speed with an SUV.
The groom was identified as James Shirah, 22, and his bride as Savahna Collier, 21.
Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton informed The Associated Press that the wedding was held at a local pizza joint earlier in the day.
The after-party happened at a residence, where Shirah and Taylor got into a heated argument.
After the verbal altercation, the fight turned deadly when Shirah struck his groomsman with the vehicle in front of the house.
The couple fled the scene and did not notify authorities until the following day, complicating the investigation at the time.
Shirah faces charges of second-degree murder and is being held without bond. Collier faces charges as an accessory after the fact to a felony.
Shirah is scheduled to appear in court for a probable cause determination hearing on September 12th.
Collier bailed out on Wednesday after posting a $1,000 surety bond, and has a hearing on the same date.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Leyton remarked about the crime. “I’ve seen people running over other people but not so soon after a wedding.”
Bride and groom die in semi-truck accident
Elsewhere a honeymoon-bound bride and groom, along with the bride’s mother were killed in Colorado in mid-August.
The newlyweds and mother-in-law lost their lives in a tragic accident when a semi-truck flipped and scattered its cargo of huge plastic tubes across the highway.
The incident occurred in morning traffic as Ruben Rodriguez and Juliana Rodriguez-Plata traveled along a Denver area interstate with their 1-year-old son and Juliana’s parents.
As they were driving, a truck overturned and its cargo of 100 plastic tubes, which weighed around 500 pounds each, scattered into traffic on both sides of the highway.
The newlyweds’ vehicle and five others were hit by the plastic tubes. Ruben, Juliana, and Juliana’s mother, Luz Melba Martinez, lost their lives in the accident.
Juliana’s father, Carlos Joaquin Plata, and the bride and groom’s 1-year-old son, Danny, were transported to a hospital and treated for injuries sustained during the accident. The semi-truck driver was taken to the hospital.
Newlyweds were headed on honeymoon
The new family was reportedly on their way to the mountains for a honeymoon getaway when disaster struck.
Ruben and Juliana had tied the knot just four days earlier, a joyous occasion that Juliana’s parents had flown up from Colombia to be a part of.
Police are still investigating the circumstances of the deadly accident and are collaborating with prosecutors to determine if criminal charges are warranted.
“We were just happy. We were just having fun. And then we get this news that they’re gone,” said Janell Rodriguez, Ruben’s sister-in-law.
“We just want to know exactly what happened because they were on the other side of the highway. They weren’t even near the semi-truck,” she added.
The family is struggling to understand how the semi-truck overturned and why the bride and groom’s lives were cut short.
“And then the baby without both of his parents, you know? It’s hard. It’s hard for the family. So we’re just gathered here right now trying to be strong together,” Janell commented.
