KISSIMMEE, Fla. (Court TV) — Sentencing for a Florida man convicted for his role in a fatal car crash has been continued.
In October, 69-year-old Richard Seymour Ferguson was convicted on four counts of manslaughter in the deaths of Trinidad Hernandez and her three young grandchildren. Police said Ferguson’s unlicensed 15-year-old son was behind the wheel of his father’s car when the Sept. 3, 2023, crash happened.
Richard Ferguson is led away by deputies in court on Oct. 29, 2025. (Court TV)
In an affidavit, police said the teen was driving a white 2012 Chevrolet Impala between 76 and 87 mph in a 30 mph zone before colliding with a gray 2022 Honda HR-V driven by Hernandez. Investigators said at the time of the crash, the Impala blew through a stop sign and into the intersection. Inside the Impala were four 15-year-old boys.
Inside the car with Hernandez was an 11-year-old girl, pronounced dead at the scene, as well as a 9-year-old boy and a one-year-old girl who died after they were taken to hospitals. There was one surviving passenger in the car, Angel Hernandez, who was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
A witness at the scene of the crash told investigators that Ferguson’s son told them “he was in trouble with his parents because he was not where he was supposed to be” and “asked her if he was going to jail for the rest of his life.” The witness reported that once the driver’s parents arrived at the scene, they told the teens in the Impala “to keep their mouths shut and don’t talk to the officers.”
Prosecutors said the teenagers had been at Ferguson’s home with his parents when one of the boys wanted to leave to retrieve a belt. Ferguson not only allowed his unlicensed son to drive his friends to get the belt, but also allegedly moved a pickup truck from the driveway to allow his son to take the Impala.
Ferguson faces 37 years to life in prison when he is sentenced. The initial sentencing date of Dec. 16 was postponed after Ferguson’s defense filed a motion seeking a downward departure at sentencing. That motion notes that Ferguson is suffering from Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Sentencing is now scheduled for Feb. 28, 2026.
