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New York Post
Cops nab NYC wrong-way driver accused of killing groom, cousin hours before wedding
By Kate Sheehy, Kevin Sheehan, Steven Vago,
2 days ago
The teen wrong-way driver accused of killing a groom the day before his wedding in a horror hit-run in Harlem was nabbed by cops on Friday.
Jimmy Connors, 17, was allegedly barreling down the wrong side of the Henry Hudson Parkway in Upper Manhattan around 2:20 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 24 when he crashed his white pick-up truck into a car carrying Kirk Walker and his cousin, Rob McLaurin, killing both men.
Connors, of Long Island, was charged with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident, according to police.
Walker, a 38-year-old dad of three from Manhattan, had been set to marry fiancée Shauntea Weaver, 40, in a lavish ceremony in New Jersey.
Kirk Walker, 38, of Manhattan was killed by a wrong-way hit-run driver the day before he was set to marry Shauntea Weaver. Obtained by the NY Post
“I’m supposed to be in my wedding dress right now — not in mourning,” Weaver told The Post in a heartbreaking exclusive interview on what was supposed to be her wedding day. “I feel like this is a TV show and I’m going to wake up any minute and go back to my real life.’’
Weaver said the accused killer must pay for his crimes.
“He killed two genuine, good people,” she said Friday when reached by The Post.
“This man frivolously took his life, recklessly took his life and completely ruined my life because that was my husband and I was supposed to start a life with him.”
The horror crash left the rogue white pick-up truck in smithereens and the other vehicle in pieces, too. G.N.Miller/NY Post A New York Yankees baseball hat is left behind among the wreckage of the deadly Henry Hudson Parkway crash. G.N.Miller/NY Post
“I just want justice to be served to the fullest extent,” the grieving fiancée added.
“I just need some type of relief and I need to know that this person is going to pay for the lives he’s taken.”
She also said it’s the first step in “getting justice for Kirk and Robert.”
“While the detainment of the man who recklessly stole the lives of two of our beloved is something we take peace in knowing, understand that this is only the first step on a long road to justice,” she added.
Walker was set to tie the knot in a ceremony in New Jersey. Obtained by the NY Post
“We will not let Kirk & Robert’s lives be taken in vain and will continue to push so that things like this do not continue to happen.”
Walker, a rental-car-business owner, and McLaurin had been celebrating the groom-to-be’s bachelor party when their black-and-orange Dodge Challenger was struck near West 154th Street.
Weaver said detectives told her the cowardly driver who fled on foot after fatally hitting the pair “left his DNA on the airbags’’ of his vehicle when the safety devices were deployed by the crash, and they hoped to use the remnants to ID him.
Jimmy Connors, 17, was charged with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident. G.N.Miller/NY Post Connors allegedly fled the area on foot after the crash, forcing NYC Mayor Eric Adams to offer a $1,000 reward for his capture. G.N.Miller/NY Post
The pick-up driver also left behind an injured passenger, who tried to flee the scene, too, but only made it about 30 feet before cops grabbed him, police said.
The injured Manhattan man was hospitalized, and it was unclear whether he will be charged with anything.
After the deadly crash, Mayor Eric Adams put up $1,000 of his own money to help catch the fleeing driver.
“Any accident is a terrible accident but some of them turn into Shakespearean tragedies,” he said at the time.
For the latest metro stories, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/metro/
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