A Georgia high school teacher was killed outside his home in a freak accident after five teenagers targeted his house during a late-night prank that went terribly wrong. Jason Hughes, 40, stepped outside his home in Gainesville around 11:40 p.m. on Thursday after spotting a group of five teens covering the trees on his property with toilet paper, the Hall County Sheriff's Office said.
When the teens noticed the North Hall High School teacher, they rushed toward two vehicles and tried to quickly drive away. During the chaos, Hughes stumbled and fell into the road and was run over by one of the cars driven by Jayden Ryan Wallace, 18.
Unfortunate Death
Wallace and two of the teens stayed at the scene and tried to help Hughes until emergency crews arrived. The father of two was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, but he later succumbed to his injuries.
Wallace was arrested at the scene and faces charges of first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, criminal trespass, and littering on private property.
Four others — Elijah Tate Owens, Aiden Hucks, Ana Katherine Luque, and Ariana Cruz, all 18 — were also arrested and charged with criminal trespass and littering. It is not clear whether any of them were students.
Hughes is being remembered as a devoted father to his two sons and a loving husband to his wife, Laura. He was also known as a respected teacher and mentor at North Hall High School, where he had taught for the past eight years.
"If I ever had problems, I could always run and call to him, like if I have the financial questions, or if I just had some personal issues going on," said Shayden Maynor, one of Hughes' former students, in an interview with 11 Alive.
Community Devastated
Maynor, who graduated in 2002 but stayed in touch with Hughes over the years, attended a memorial held Saturday at North Hall High School. "We grieved together, we laughed, we made jokes, and it was just really bad for the community that we had lost somebody so special like that," he said.
Another student, Olivia Williams, a sophomore at the school, said Hughes was always looking out for his students and cared deeply about their well-being.
"He always tried to make conversations with students, and he always just tried to be the most supportive he could," Williams told Atlanta News First.
"He would show up to events that he didn't even know anything about just to be supportive, and that's going to be a really big thing that's going to be missed."
Williams also said that Hughes' wife works at North Hall High School as a geometry teacher.
"I really just want her to know that there's so many people that love and care about them, and they're not alone in this and that if they ever need a shoulder to cry on, there is always going to be somebody to turn to," she told the outlet.
A growing memorial has been set up outside the school, where students, staff, and community members have been leaving flowers to honor Hughes.
A GoFundMe page has also been created to help raise money for his family. "Jason's life was a blessing to so many, and his untimely passing will be indescribably difficult for his wife and two young boys for years to come," the page said.
