The charges have been dropped against five Georgia high school students whose prank against a teacher went wrong and left the educator dead.
Last Friday, the teenagers drove to the Gainesville home of their North Hall High School teacher, Jason Hughes, 40, with the intent to toss toilet paper over his trees. The prank was a longtime junior-senior tradition.
Hughes knew the students were coming and “was excited and waiting to catch them in the act,” according to the teacher’s family. He walked into the street to meet the students but slipped and fell in the road. Hughes’ family said he slipped because the ground was slick due to the prior day’s rain.
The five students involved in the prank drove away from the house in a pair of vehicles. A truck driven by one of the students ran over Hughes, who was still lying in the road after his fall. The teacher was taken for treatment at a nearby hospital but died from his injuries.
The student driving the truck, 18-year-old Jayden Ryan Wallace, was charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, which is a felony. He was also charged with criminal trespass, reckless driving, and littering, according to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
The other four students involved — Elijah Tate Owens, Aiden Hucks, Ana Katherine Luque, and Ariana Cruz — are also 18 and from Gainesville. They each received a charge of criminal trespass and littering on private property.
Wallace’s attorney, Graham McKinnon, said his client never saw Hughes — as the teacher was lying on the ground — and his truck only traveled a few feet before making contact with Hughes.
“In the end, there was no crime — only an extremely sad and devastating accident,” McKinnon told the The New York Times.
According to Hughes’ family, what played out between the students and the teacher was anything but malicious. They said that Hughes loved the students involved and that they were very fond of their teacher in return.
Hughes’ family worked to have the charges against the students dropped, claiming the teacher would never have wanted to see his pupils’ lives destroyed over an accident.
“Our family is determined to prevent a separate tragedy from occurring, ruining the lives of these students,” the family said in a statement. “This would be counter to Jason’s lifelong dedication of investing in the lives of these children.”
Hughes’ wife, Laura, was one of the most ardent defenders of the students before their charges were dropped Friday. Despite having just lost her husband under exceptionally tragic circumstances, she fought to defend the students’ innocence.
The charges were dismissed on the day before the teacher’s funeral.
“Jayden Wallace and his family first want to thank Laura Hughes for her remarkable compassion and spirit of forgiveness in the face of the tremendous loss of her husband, Jason Hughes,” McKinnon wrote after the charges were dropped. “Jayden is still grieving deeply but is determined to move forward eventually to live a life that would make Jason Hughes proud.”
In a statement to CBS News, the family asked for prayer as they continue to grieve and asked that the public extend grace to the students involved.
“We ask that you continue to pray for our family and also for the students involved in the accident along with their families,” the family said in the statement. “Please join us in extending grace and mercy to them as Christ has done for us,” the family said.
