Almost everyone imagines their wedding day to be a momentous occasion that’s filled with nothing but heartfelt toasts, happy tears, and lots of love. For the ones who have the privilege of standing up beside their friends and family as bridesmaids and groomsmen, you would hope that the big day is a chance for everyone to be together and celebrate this new union, but that’s not always the case.
A Michigan bride and groom have been sentenced after a 2024 murder that took place on their wedding night. The groom fatally hit his best man with his vehicle, and his new wife helped cover things up.
In September 2024, a bride and groom were arrested after hitting a groomsman with their SUV the night of their wedding.
According to WNEM, on August 30, 2024, the Flint Police Department in Michigan was called to the 1400 block of East Hamilton Avenue for reports of a pedestrian injury crash. When authorities arrived, they found 29-year-old Terry Lewis Taylor Jr. with severe injuries after being hit by an SUV. Sadly, he later died at the hospital.
Upon investigation, Flint police learned that Taylor had attended a wedding that day as a groomsman for 22-year-old James Shirah, who was marrying 21-year-old Savanah Collier, per the news outlet.
After the wedding, an argument reportedly took place that led to Shirah allegedly intentionally hitting Taylor at a high speed with an SUV, according to WNEM. After the crash, prosecutors said, Collier helped her husband get to a hotel and then ventured back to drop off her car and had someone bring her to the hotel to be with her husband, according to the news outlet.
The groom received a 30-year prison sentence for second-degree murder.
James Shirah was sentenced on May 11, 2026, to 30 years in prison after pleading no contest to second-degree murder, WNEM reported.
NBC News reported that it was and “alcohol-fueled argument” led to Shirah striking Taylor, reportedly his best friend, with his SUV that evening in August 2024. Shirah expressed his regrets in court during his sentencing. “The only thing I can do for the rest of my life is express my apology and remorse. … I will forever be sorry,” he said.
David Leyton, the Genesee County prosecutor, called this violent attack against Taylor a “tragedy,” per WNEM5. “You have a man and his bride getting married, what should be one of the most joyous days in their life, turning into this terrible tragedy,” he said.
The bride avoided prison but said during her sentencing that she ‘lost everything’ that day.
Collier pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and was sentenced under Holmes Youthful Trainee Act, which means the charges could be dismissed if she completes two years of probation, according to WNEM.
CourtTV reported that Collier was emotional during her sentencing hearing when she addressed the court.
“Never in a million years would I have expected what happened to happen. I didn’t just lose [the victim] that day. I lost everything that night. I lost my home, my house got broken into, they stole my car. I lost my husband, I lost my family,” she said.
Even though Collier was not guilty of killing Taylor, she didn’t do anything that night to help him, either. Prosecutor Mark Ross talked about Collier’s involvement after seeing what her husband did. “She saw her husband run him over at a high rate of speed, died on the street, got in the car, had a phone and didn’t call 911 or do anything else. She did nothing to help,” Ross said.
Our hearts go out to Taylor’s family and loved ones at this time. Hopefully, they can try and move forward after receiving some sense of closure from this horrific event.
