Body

A Georgia high school teacher died after what authorities described as a prank turned deadly, and a teen has been charged in connection with the incident. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office said Jason Hughes, 40, was struck by a pickup truck after he tripped and fell in the road as teenagers were starting to drive away from his home in Gainesville late Friday, and that Hughes died after being taken to a hospital.

Authorities said the prank involved teenagers unspooling rolls of toilet paper outside Hughes’ house before Hughes came out. The sheriff’s office said the teens started to leave when Hughes exited, and that one of the teenagers driving away struck him after he fell.

The sheriff’s office said the teen driver was arrested and charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, a felony under Georgia law, and that he was also charged with reckless driving, a misdemeanor. The teen driver was identified as Jayden Ryan Wallace. Four other teens were charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal trespassing and littering on private property, according to the sheriff’s office.

Hughes’ family said in a statement provided to The Associated Press that the teacher knew and loved the five students involved and urged authorities to drop all charges. The family called the situation “a terrible tragedy” and said it was determined to prevent what it described as a separate tragedy from occurring by “ruining the lives of these students,” adding that would be counter to Hughes’ “lifelong dedication of investing in the lives of these children.”

Hughes taught math at North Hall High School and helped coach golf, football and baseball, the sheriff’s office said. About 55 miles (88 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta, the Gainesville school community left a makeshift memorial of flowers along a section of fence outside the school after his death.

A neighbor, Ty Talley, said the toilet paper prank was part of what he described as a tradition among North Hall students during prom season, and that it was not meant to be malicious. “It was nothing malicious,” Talley said, adding that it was the kind of prank he said he did himself when he was a kid.

In the day before Hughes’ death, the Hall County school system posted a message urging students to refrain from prom-season pranks that could result in property damage or destruction, warning of “serious consequences that can arise from engaging in destructive behavior.” Sean Pender, Hughes’ fellow football coach, wrote on social media that Hughes was a man of deep faith who led a weekly Bible study for other coaches and said he did not judge or force anything, describing him as someone who “simply loved people well.”

Authorities said the teenagers pulled up at about 11:40 p.m. Friday in two vehicles and began wrapping trees with toilet paper. The sheriff’s office said that after Hughes was struck, the teens stopped and tried to render aid until emergency responders arrived.

The criminal case ultimately will move through the Hall County District Attorney’s Office, where decisions on whether and how to prosecute the teens will be made. District Attorney Lee Darragh told an AP reporter by phone Monday that he was not commenting because, as he put it, he did not have enough information about the case to do so.

Related prior reporting is set out in related stories.