JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On May 17th, Amber and Amanda Gross lost the woman they say tied their family together. They told only Action News Jax that they took Tara Shaw in during the second half of her 22-year-long life, which was cut short by a motorcycle crash.
“It’s been unreal. There’s just no words. I’m losing my breath, just talking about it,” said Amber Gross.
The Jacksonville Beach Police Department said Shaw was riding on Robin McAlarney’s motorcycle when it crashed at the intersection of 3rd Street and St. Augustine Boulevard, right next to the Gate gas station.
Police believe McAlarney was riding 90 miles per hour at the time of the crash. The incident report from the crash said he was going south on 3rd Street, split the lane between two cars, swerved to dodge a car making a left turn and then ran into the back of a black Camaro. None of the people inside were hurt, but Shaw, riding on the back of the motorcycle, was killed in the crash.
McAlarney was charged with DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide earlier this month, almost six months after the crash happened. Jax Beach police are now looking for him after issuing an arrest report at the end of October.
“It’s been one of the hardest things that this family has ever had to go through,” said Amanda Gross, Shaw’s sister, “I think [McAlarney] should just turn himself in. He can’t run forever. He needs to face the consequences.”
The Gross family told Action News Jax that Shaw and McAlarney had been talking with each other for months leading up to the crash. Between their cell phones, Jax Beach police said they exchanged more than 11 calls between March 13th and May 16th, one day before the crash.
Jax Beach police said McAlarney and his girlfriend had been drinking at The Wreck Tiki Lounge a few hours before the crash. The incident report said the two got into an argument while they were at the bar after McAlarney’s girlfriend said she wanted to go back to their shared home, but he wanted to stay at the bar. The report said the two drove back to the house before McAlarney took off, alone, without saying where he was going.
Later that night, Jax Beach police said McAlarney had driven his motorcycle to The Tavern, where he saw Shaw standing outside. The report said the two talked, walked back to his motorcycle and went for a ride, which ended in the crash.
Action News Jax found McAlarney has a record of six prior sentences he’s served in various Georgia prisons. The Georgia Department of Corrections said he had been convicted for things like theft, aggravated battery and ‘terrorist threats,’ but this is his first official DUI manslaughter charge. If he’s arrested and found guilty, he could face 15 years in prison, per Florida law.
The Gross family is hoping for his arrest, but, more than anything, wishes they had their sister back home.
“The last thing I said to Tara was, ‘You have plenty of time,’” said Amber, “that’s the very last thing I said to her while she was alive. That was two days before she wasn’t.”
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