A Georgia high school teacher died on 6 March after he was run over by a vehicle during a prom prank that went horribly wrong.
Jason Hughes, 40, died shortly after a vehicle ran him over at his Gainesville home on 5 March. Police charged the vehicle's driver, Jayden Ryan Wallace, 18, with reckless driving and first-degree homicide.
Elijah Tate Owens, 18, Aiden Hucks, 18, Ana Katherine Luque, 18, and Ariana Cruz, 18, have also been charged with littering on private property and criminal trespass. All were arrested at the scene along with Wallace.
Per a statement obtained by11Alive, police received calls that Hughes, a North Hall High School teacher, had been run over by a vehicle near his residence. Deputies arrived at the 4400 block of North Gate Drive at around 11:40pm, 5 March.
According to initial investigations, the five suspects intended to prank Hughes by littering the trees on his property with toilet paper. When Hughes came out of the house to confront them, the group quickly fled the scene in two vehicles.
Hughes tripped and fell on the road in front of Wallace's speeding pickup truck. Wallace and two other individuals were aiding the badly injured Hughes when emergency responders arrived. Hughes died shortly after, at Northeast Georgia Medical Centre.
Police confirmed all five suspects are Gainesville residents. It was not confirmed if any of them went to North Hall High School, where Hughes served as school director for almost eight years.
'I think [Hughes] was connected through a lot of people, and I think it's taken a toll on a lot of the community because he was very, very big in the community,' said Olivia Williams, a North Hall High School sophomore.
'He was very social with people and always at events, and he was always just cheering people on, no matter what the event was,' they added.
Hughes was also an advocate for NG3, or 'Next Generation: Character, Community, and Change,' an organisation that equips students through faith-based mentorship and community service.
Source: International Business Times UK
