Richard Seymour Ferguson, 69, will spend the next 37 years in prison for a decision that wiped out two generations of a Florida family.
An Osceola County judge delivered the heavy sentence this week after a jury found Ferguson guilty of four counts of manslaughter. The conviction stems from a 2023 tragedy where Ferguson allowed his 15-year-old son to get behind the wheel without a license, leading to a high-speed wreck that killed a grandmother and three children. Calling himself “a deeply broken man,” the father of a teen driver police say caused a crash that killed four people in Osceola County in Florida was sentenced this week to 37 years in prison for his role in the tragedy.
The details of the crash are chilling. FHP investigators determined the unlicensed teen was flying at speeds up to 83 mph in a residential 30-mph zone before blowing a stop sign and slamming into a Honda. The impact killed 50-year-old Trinidad Hernandez and her grandkids: Miley, 11; Marvin, 9; and Anayari, 1.
In court, Ferguson broke down while addressing the survivors, but his words offered little comfort to a family left with nothing. “Each day is living in grief and regret, and in pain that knows no limit,” he said. “I am truly, deeply sorry for your loss…I know that the weight of my remorse can never compare to the weight of your pain.”
Sabrina Hernandez, who lost both her mother and her three children in the collision, delivered a gut-wrenching statement that dismissed Ferguson’s courtroom tears. She pointed out the stark reality that while Ferguson’s family can still see him, her children are gone forever. “The tears that I just see up here, it’s just ridiculous. This man is still alive, your guys’ family is still alive. If you want to hug him you can hug him. Guess what? If I want to hug my children I have to hug a vase full of a pile of ashes that sit in my damn living room.”
The lone survivor of the crash, Angel Hernandez, spoke about the loss of his soulmate and the retirement they were supposed to share. “I got robbed of time. … I was supposed to have a lifetime with them,” he said. “I lost my grandkids and my soulmate…Some people spend a lifetime trying to find a soulmate. But I had mine.”
The investigation revealed that Ferguson had even moved a vehicle in his driveway to help the teens leave the house that night. While Ferguson claimed he never gave his son permission to drive away and only meant for him to move the car, he eventually admitted his failure to act. “I am sorry that I played a part…I should have went after my son and stopped my son,” he said. “There is something more that I could have done…I took the easy way out.”
Ferguson’s family pleaded for leniency, citing his Stage 4 cancer and the difficulty of getting treatment while incarcerated. His attorney fought for house arrest, but Sabrina Hernandez remained firm that illness should not lead to an early release or a lighter sentence for the man she blames for her family’s destruction. “I take no pity on this man. Am I sorry that he’s sick? I am. And I pray that the Lord comforts him in his bad health, I truly do,” she said. “And I pray that the Lord takes pity on this man, because it’s a pathetic excuse for a man to sit here with your head down and can’t even take accountability.”
