A 70-year-old Florida man faces the likelihood of spending the rest of his life behind bars after a judge handed down a 37-year prison sentence on Wednesday. Richard Ferguson was convicted on four counts of vehicular manslaughter following a 2023 crash that claimed the lives of a grandmother and three young children.
The tragedy, which occurred in Osceola County, stemmed from Ferguson’s decision to let his unlicensed 15-year-old son take the wheel.
On the evening of September 2, 2023, the teenager was driving Ferguson’s vehicle with friends when he blew through a stop sign. The car slammed into an SUV carrying Angel Hernandez, his wife, and their three grandchildren—a baby and two children under the age of 11. While Hernandez survived the impact after being rushed to a hospital, his wife and all three grandchildren were killed.
The courtroom on February 18 was heavy with the weight of that loss. Prosecutors pushed for a maximum penalty, highlighting the sheer scale of the devastation caused by what they described as a preventable choice. Ferguson’s defense team, meanwhile, pleaded for leniency. They pointed to the 70-year-old’s failing health, noting he is currently battling stage four prostate cancer among other medical complications.
Ferguson himself addressed the court with a tearful apology. According to local reports, he told those gathered that he was “profoundly sorry” and acknowledged that the crash “shattered families.”
However, the grief of the victims’ family remained the focal point of the proceedings. The mother of the three children, who also lost her own mother in the collision, gave an emotional statement that left few in the room unaffected. She spoke of the unnatural burden of the tragedy, stating through her grief that she should have been the one being buried by her children, not the other way around.
The legal fallout has also reached the son. The teenager, who did not have a learner’s permit at the time of the crash, accepted a plea deal. He is currently serving time in a juvenile facility and is expected to remain incarcerated until he turns 19, provided he maintains good behavior.
For Ferguson, the sentence serves as a grim conclusion to a case that has sparked widespread conversation regarding parental responsibility and the lethal consequences of allowing minors to operate vehicles without proper training or supervision.
READ: Florida Supreme Court Reinstates Death Sentence For Leo Kaczmar III
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