A bride-to-be has spoken out after her groom was tragically killed in a horrifying car crash one day before their wedding.
The devastating wrong-way crash occurred in Manhattan early on Saturday morning, leaving 40-year-old Shauntea Weaver heartbroken.
Her would-be groom, 38-year-old Kirk Walker, and his cousin 40-year-old Rob McLaurin, were killed by a wrong-way driver on the Henry Hudson Parkway in Harlem.
Walker, a father of three from Manhattan, was celebrating his bachelor party with McLaurin when their Dodge Challenger was struck head-on at around 2:20AM by a pickup truck driving the wrong way, per CBS News.
The collision turned the Challenger into a mangled wreck near West 154th Street, leaving both men dead at the scene.
The driver of the pickup truck fled the scene, as did the passenger, who was later found by police about 30 feet from the crash site and taken to the hospital.
Walker and Weaver had been set to marry in a large ceremony at the Royal Manor wedding venue in Garfield, New Jersey.
A representative from the venue confirmed that the ceremony had been canceled due to the fatal crash.
"I’m supposed to be in my wedding dress right now — not in mourning," Weaver told the New York Post.
"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 continued.
"Every hour since it happened, I’m having a different emotion take me over.
“Our ceremony was supposed to be at 5:00PM today — in a few hours,” Weaver said.
“He died 24 hours before our wedding. It’s devastating, and not just for me. He has three children that loved him immeasurably. They are heartbroken that their father’s been taken.”
“He was such a generous, hard-working man,” she continued. “He had a heart of gold and would do anything for anybody.”
The couple had recently started a successful car rental business, which Weaver credited to Walker’s dedication and hard work.
“He put his blood, sweat, and tears into it — we both did,” she said.
Now, Weaver is focused on seeking justice for her late fiancé.
“The detectives looked me right in my face and said that they were going to do everything they could to get justice,” she said.
“They told me the driver left his DNA on the airbags. So they have that. Also, the passenger is in the hospital with broken legs and he needs to speak up.”
.jpg_rTQRJz?tr=w-1024,cr-0.0.1024.686&config=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)
“Two lives were lost in a reckless car crash,” Weaver continued. “They need to pay for killing two innocent people.
“Nothing will bring him back. But we are seeking justice.”
Friends and family have taken to social media to express their grief.
"At 5:30AM, I received the most heartbreaking call that two of my cousins were killed in a car accident," Akilañ Ke-Ki Woods wrote on Facebook.
"He was getting married today! How does our family go from preparing a celebration to now planning two funerals?" she added.
"My family is hurting and broken right now," Woods continued. "I can’t go one hour without breaking down in tears."