Arrest Made for Henry Hudson Car Crash That Killed Groom-To-Be Day Before Wedding
A 17-year-old, later identified by the Daily News as Jimmy Connors, was taken into custody at the Canadian border in connection with an August 24 incident that killed 38 year-old Kirk Walker the day before his wedding. The teen was hit was vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide raps.
| 16 Sep 2024 | 05:23
The Henry Hudson Parkway near W. 165th St., where 38 year-old Kirk Walker was killed in a wrong-way crash the day before his August 25 wedding. On Sept. 13, a teenage suspect was arrested in connection with the pile-up. (
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A teenager was arrested at the Canadian border in connection with an August 24 wrong-way car crash on the Henry Hudson Parkway, which killed a groom and his cousin one day before a wedding.
The teen had allegedly been driving a sliver Chevy Silverado near W. 165 St. at around 2:21 a.m., when he swiped an off-duty police officer’s car. He then reportedly pulled a U-turn and drove onto an exit ramp and started driving southbound in the northbound lane of the parkway.
Moments later, with the officer in pursuit, the Silverado slammed head-on into a Dodge Challenger carrying 38 year-old Kirk Walker and 40 year-old Robert McLaurin, Walker’s cousin. Both men, who were driving in the correct direction, were both pronounced dead after being rushed by EMS to NYC Health/Hospitals Harlem.
Walker was set to be married to a heartbroken woman named Shauntea Weaver, who told CBS News that everybody was “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 Silverado also ricocheted off another car, an Audi, mildly injuring two unidentified men in their 20s. Both were listed in stable condition after being rushed to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. After the hectic crash, with the Silverado in flames, the now-arrested suspect reportedly hopped over the parkway’s median and ran across the southbound lanes into the undergrowth. He remained on the lam until his September 13 arrest.
Police told The Spirit that the alleged driver–who is a minor, and therefore remained unidentified by the authorities–has been hit with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and leaving the scene of an accident raps. Police were initially looking for what they described as as a 31 year-old suspect.
The Daily News further reported that the teen is named Jimmy Connors, and that he appeared at a border checkpoint wearing the same clothes he had on during the accident. He was apparently limping and seriously bruised, with blood smeared on his t-shirt. His lawyer told the same outlet that “Connors suffers from autism and epilepsy and ‘denies any evidence,’” and that he expects his client to be exonerated.
After Connor’s arrest, Weaver expressed her family’s “relief,” and called it the “first step in getting justice for Kirk and Robert. We will not let Kirk and Robert’s lives be taken in vain, and will continue to push so that things like this do not continue to happen.”