Groom Gets 30 Years for Running Over Best Man

A wedding reception ended with the hit-and-run death of the best man. Now, the groom is headed to prison and the bride is asking for a second chance. Prosecutors in Genesee County, Michigan, say Terry Lewis Taylor Jr., 29, was struck and killed by an SUV driven by groom James Shirah after an argument on Aug. 30, 2024, per WNEM. Video captured Taylor running down the street near Beecher before being hit at high speed by the SUV. Taylor was later pronounced dead at an area hospital. Shirah, now 24, who was driving on a suspended license and left the scene, pleaded no contest in April to second-degree murder and related charges as part of a plea agreement.

On Monday, he was ordered to serve at least 30 years in prison. "I will forever be sorry," an emotional Shirah said in court, per MLive.com. "It was not intentional. That was my best friend." "Mr. Shirah, I believe that you are not a criminal. You are, however, a killer," Judge Khary Hanible said at the sentencing, per the AP. Shirah's bride, Savanah Collier, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and is seeking sentencing under Michigan's Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, which could erase the felony if she completes probation. Her sentencing is set for May 26.