Groom Killed On Wedding Day While Helping Stranded Motorist

A newly married Iraq War veteran was tragically run over and killed while trying to help a stranded motorist on Saturday night. The motorist was also killed.

William Riley Knight was on his way to a hotel with his new bride Nikki after their wedding reception in Indiana when they spotted a car that had slid off the road in the snow.

Knight parked his truck and got out and tried to assist the motorist. He and the motorist, Linda Darlington, a local teacher, were standing by the side of the road when they were struck by three cars.

According to Lake County (Ind.) Sheriff John Buncich, “One of the first vehicles was coming eastbound and struck both individuals. A car right behind them, the first vehicle, also struck the two, and unfortunately a third vehicle that eastbound also struck the couple.”

A county government spokesperson added that “[Knight] helped her up the steep embankment and helped her to the side of the road when they were struck.”

Nikki Knight, who is a nurse, heard a thud, and got out of the truck. “When she went out to the scene, she said, neither Knight nor Darlington had a pulse.”

The divers of the other vehicles tested negative for alcohol, and as yet not charges have been filed in the traffic accident. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident from blunt-force trauma.

The couple were married for about six hours before this tragedy. Said Nikki Knight after the wedding day accident in Crown Point, Ind. that took the life of her good Samaritan husband, “I went from a being a newlywed to a widow in less than 48 hours — the highest high to the lowest low. It’s a blur.”

William Riley Knight, 49, was a former US Army Ranger in the 82nd Airborne Division, and had served in Operation Desert Storm.