A popular Georgia high school teacher has died after he was run over outside his home during a common, and normally innocent, teenage prank gone tragically wrong.
The fatal incident occurred Friday night during the “papering” or “rolling” of the teacher’s Gainesville property north of Atlanta — a prank where in the dark of night students string the trees with streams of toilet paper, which are discovered the next morning in the light of day.
Jason Hughes, a math teacher at North Hall High School in Gainesville, emerged from his home around 11:40 p.m. to investigate a commotion he was hearing outside and spotted the pranksters in the act, according to a statement by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
The 40-year-old teacher then walked over to the vehicles that 18-year-old Jayden Wallace and four other teenage companions were getting into, now apparently in a big hurry to flee the area.
Wallace was in a pickup, and as he fled, Hughes reportedly tripped and fell into the road and was run over, according to authorities.
Hughes, a husband and father of two, died from his injuries in a local hospital on Friday.
Police have charged Wallace with first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, criminal trespass, and littering on private property, 11 Alive in Atlanta reported. The teen is being held on a $1,950 bond, according to the New York Post.
Elijiah Owens, Aiden Hucks, Ana Katherine Luque, and Ariana Cruz — all 18 and the other teens involved in the papering prank — were charged with littering and trespassing misdemeanors the night of the incident, according to WSB-TV, another Atlanta news outlet.
Hughes, besides teaching math, was a school district golf coach.
“Our hearts are broken. Jason Hughes was a loving husband, a devoted father, a passionate teacher, mentor, and coach who was loved and respected by students and colleagues,” the school district said in a statement. “He gave so much to so many in numerous ways. Our hearts and prayers go out to his wife and family.”
“I think he 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,” sophomore Olivia Williams told 11 Alive. “He was very social with people and always at events, and he was always just cheering people on, no matter what the event was.”
It was not immediately clear why the Hughes’s home was targeted, according to local reports.
However, papering, a prank employed by high schoolers for decades — sometimes as senior graduation approaches — is often bestowed on popular teachers as well as those who have fallen in disfavor.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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