The sun was setting over an Orlando suburb on a Sunday evening when a white 2012 Chevy Impala tore through an intersection. Inside, a boy not yet old enough to hold a license pushed the speedometer past 80 mph— nearly triple the limit— after his father, Richard Seymour Ferguson, gave him permission to drive to pick up a friend’s belt.
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That ride would end in unspeakable tragedy.
Ferguson was arrested and charged with four counts of manslaughter in February 2025— not because he was the driver of the car that ran a stop sign, collided with a gray 2022 Honda and claimed the lives of four people, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The father’s charges were because he willingly handed his car keys to his unlicensed 15-year-old, identified as Ri’shard Ferguson by Law & Crime, who drove with three other unlicensed teens on Sept. 3, 2023.
Ri’shard’s friends reportedly told investigators Ferguson, 69, told him to come right back home; instead, the son drove to Deerwood Park in Poinciana, where the fatal crash occurred on San Miguel Street and Laurel Avenue.
Four of the five occupants of the Honda were killed: Trinidad Hernandez, 50, and her three grandchildren, Miley Cruz, 11, Marvin Cruz, 9, and Anayari Hernandez, 1. Angel Hernandez, Trinidad’s husband and the children’s grandfather, was the lone survivor in the car.
A witness at the scene of the crash told investigators that Ri’shard told them “he was in trouble with his parents because he was not where he was supposed to be,” according to CourtTV. The son allegedly “asked her if he was going to jail for the rest of his life.”
Fast forward to October 2025, when Ferguson was found guilty of four counts of manslaughter. Ninth Judicial Circuit Judge Keith A. Carsten sentenced Ferguson to 37 years in prison Wednesday. His initial sentencing date of Dec. 16 was postponed after Ferguson’s defense noted he is suffering from Stage IV pancreatic cancer— something his family says he will unlikely receive proper treatment for behind bars.
“There are no words powerful enough to repair what has been broken,” Ferguson said, who added his remorse “could never be compared” to the Hernandez’s pain. “I stand before you today as a deeply broken man carrying a sorrow that may hurt my heart and I may never be strong enough to bear.”
Sabrina Hernandez, the mother of the three young victims and Trinidad’s daughter, said, “I have to wake up every day, every single day, without my babies or my mother.” She continued: “If I want to hug my children I have to hug a vase filled with a pile of ashes that sits in my living room,” therefore she takes “no pity on this man.”
As far as Ferguson’s son, Ri’shard previously pleaded guilty to multiple charges of manslaughter in a plea deal. The agreement requires Ri’shard to remain in a juvenile detention facility until he turns 19, pending good behavior, Law & Crime reported. Afterwards, he must complete two years of supervised release.
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