Dangerous Roads newsletter: A last kiss before Southern State Parkway tragedy

Sherman Richardson was such an early riser it wasn’t every day that his wife, Jawana Carter-Richardson, saw him before he headed to his job as a union metal lather. But she did so on Dec. 5, 2014.

"I thank God that I got up that morning, made his breakfast and lunch — something I didn't often have to do. He was appreciative and kissed me goodbye and left for work," Carter-Richardson, of Hempstead, said of her 59-year-old husband.

Less than an hour later, Carter-Richardson saw a breaking news report on her television about a fatal hit-and-run crash on the Southern State Parkway. She stopped what she was doing, said a prayer for the family of the victim, and went on her with day, "never imagining that family was mine."

Carter-Richardson shared her story with a room full of state police troopers Friday night — the first night of "Operation: Southern Shield," a seven-week long enforcement initiative targeting dangerous driving on the Southern State Parkway. Before sending them out on their patrols, Capt. Vincent Augeri explained to Troop L that "tonight is not about the routine ticket. It's not about the headlight. It's not about the taillight. It's about hunting down the aggressive behaviors that hurt people, that kill people."

But it was guest speaker Carter-Richardson who really drove home the stakes of stopping dangerous drivers before they do their damage. Her husband was just weeks away from retiring on the night he was killed — the same night the couple was slated to attend Sherman’s union holiday party.

Around the same time she’d typically get a phone call from her husband during his lunch break, Carter-Richardson got a phone call from an unknown number. On the other end was a state police official, asking if she knew Sherman Richardson. She told herself it was a scam call, and hung up, as she did when they repeatedly called back.

She tried desperately to reach her husband. She called his co-workers, who told her he never came in that day. She remembered the story about the deadly crash on the Southern State — his route to work.

"I searched online, and I saw it: my husband's car, crushed, his license plate, a white sheet over the driver's side door," she recalled. "And in that moment, my entire world stopped. My husband, my soulmate, my heart, was gone."

What if state troopers had spotted the driver, 36-year-old Madi Grant, as he recklessly weaved through morning traffic at 80 mph after a night of drinking and smoking marijuana at a strip club? They might have been able to stop Grant before he crashed into her husband's car, sending it off the road and into a tree before he continued on his way — later torching his car to hide the evidence.

Instead, Grant was arrested nine months later, convicted of manslaughter and other charges. Carter-Richardson said she recently learned Grant was released from prison last year after serving about 10 years of a 14-30 year prison sentence.

"After everything, after all the work and collective effort put into this case, after the life he took, he gets a second chance. My Sherman and many other victims did not," she said. "And that's why this mission matters so much. Because this isn't just about enforcement. It's about prevention. It's about stopping the next tragedy before it happens."

Readers speak up

Despite efforts like Operation: Southern Shield, this reader believes police could do more to rein in dangerous drivers.

Every time I drive in my car, I could give at least five people tickets. I experience cars speeding, 80-90 miles on the LIE, cars going in and out of HOV lanes when not appropriate, no license plates, headlights not working properly, speeding and changing lanes aggressively, blacked out windows (which I thought was illegal), impaired drivers. It frustrates me that police are sitting on the side of the road waiting for what? If the police drive on the road they too would experience all these infractions and be able to give more tickets and possibly prevent an accident and make the roads safer. 

Harold and Tammy Marrero, Medford

Do you think police are doing enough to keep people safe on Long Island's dangerous roads? Let us know at roads@newsday.com.