HALL COUNTY, GA - On Friday, March 13, a prosecutor announced that he has dismissed vehicular homicide charges against a high school student who fatally struck his math teacher during a prank gone wrong.
Hall County District Attorney Lee Darragh confirmed the dismissal to NBC News without comment. The family of Jason Hughes, the North Hall High School teacher who was killed, had called for the charges to be dropped.
In addition to the homicide charge, the prosecutor dismissed reckless driving, criminal trespass, and littering charges against 18-year-old Jayden Wallace in connection with the death of Hughes, 40, on March 6. Darragh also dismissed criminal trespassing and littering charges against four other 18-year-old students who were present when Hughes was run over outside his home in Gainesville.
In a statement, an attorney for the Wallace family, Graham McKinnon, said there was no crime, "only an extremely sad and devastating accident." He thanked Hughes' wife for her "remarkable compassion and spirit of forgiveness in the face of the tremendous loss of her husband."
Authorities said Hughes was killed after the students "rolled" the trees outside his home with toilet paper. Hughes emerged from his home, then tripped and fell, the Hall County Sheriff's Office said. He was run over as the students began to drive off.
Hughes' family said he knew the teens were coming. Wallace's attorney described the prank as a longtime junior-senior tradition at North Hall High School and was "excited and waiting to catch them in the act."
Hughes slipped because it had been raining. "Our family is determined to prevent a separate tragedy from occurring, ruining the lives of these students,” the family said. “This would be counter to Jason’s lifelong dedication to investing in the lives of these children.
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