Wallace now faces charges including first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, criminal trespass and littering on private property, CBS News reports.<\/p>\n
Hughes died in hospital on March 6, but his wife Laura has urged police to drop the criminal charges against the students. Photo \/ Facebook<\/p>\n
The four other teenagers and alleged co-pranksters, Elijah Tate Owens, Aiden Hucks, Ana Katherine Lucque, and Ariana Cruz, all 18 years old, have been charged with criminal trespass and littering on private property \u2013 misdemeanour offences.<\/p>\n
Hughes\u2019 wife family has confirmed she supports dropping the charges.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a terrible tragedy, and our family is determined to prevent a separate tragedy from occurring, ruining the lives of these students,\u201d Laura Hughes, Hughes\u2019 wife, who is also a teacher at North Hall, told the New York Times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis would be counter to Jason\u2019s lifelong dedication of investing in the lives of these children.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added that her late husband was not going to confront the students as previously reported, but instead \u201cwas excited and waiting to catch them in the act\u201d.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s understood that Hughes\u2019 home (pictured in 2023) was a target of the annual student tradition \u2013 considering that the kids got two \u2018points\u2019 if they pranked the home of a teacher \u2013 and his wife also taught maths at the school. Photo \/ Facebook<\/p>\n
The teacher\u2019s home had earlier been described as a \u201cclear target\u201d for the students\u2019 so-called \u201cprank war\u201d, the New York Post reported.<\/p>\n
This is because teachers\u2019 homes were worth two points according to last year\u2019s rule set, and both Mr Hughes and his wife were teachers.<\/p>\n
Students were said to lose points if they were \u201ccaught\u201d in the act by the teacher.<\/p>\n
Police said Hughes saw the teenagers allegedly \u201crolling\u201d toilet paper across his home and had stepped outside as the group were getting into their vehicles to flee the scene.<\/p>\n
It was raining out, People reports, causing Hughes to trip and fall into the road where he was struck by a pick-up truck allegedly driven by Wallace.<\/p>\n
Despite desperate attempts to help the teacher, he died from his injuries on Friday at a local hospital.<\/p>\n
Hughes leaves behind Laura and their two children.<\/p>\n
Just hours before Hughes was fatally run over, the local school district warned students to steer clear of \u201cengaging in destructive behaviour\u201d and going \u201ctoo far\u201d during its annual \u201cJunior\/Senior\u201d wars.<\/p>\n
The Hall County School District shared a lengthy message on Facebook about responsibility and detailed how students are expected to act.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn previous years, some pranks during prom season \u2013 sometimes referred to as Junior\/Senior Wars \u2013 have gone too far, resulting in damage to property,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe urge all students to refrain from participating in any activities that may cause harm or destruction to school or personal property.\u201d<\/p>\n
It concluded by warning students that it is \u201cessential to recognise the serious consequences that can arise from engaging in destructive behaviour, such as criminal charges and potential repercussions on participation in graduation ceremonies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot stress enough the importance of making responsible choices and thinking about the long-term impact of your actions,\u201d it concluded.<\/p>\n
After Hughes\u2019 death, the school said: \u201cOur hearts are broken\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cJason Hughes was a loving husband, a devoted father; a passionate teacher, mentor and coach who was loved and respected by students and colleagues,\u201d it continued. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave so much to so many in numerous ways. Our hearts and prayers go out to his wife and family. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe ask that the media and the public respect their privacy as they grieve.\u201d <\/p>\n
A fundraiser has received almost A$425,000 in donations to help the family. Photo \/ Facebook<\/p>\n
A GoFundMe page has been set up \u201cto assist his family with immediate expenses and a future college fund for his children\u201d. <\/p>\n
It reads: \u201cJason\u2019s life was a blessing to so many, and his untimely passing will be indescribably difficult for his wife and two young boys for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, it has raised almost US$300,000 (about $506,000), and has been flooded with messages of support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a senseless tragedy,\u201d one donor wrote.<\/p>\n
The death is still under investigation, authorities have said.<\/p>\n
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wallace now faces charges including first-degree vehicular homicide, reckless driving, criminal trespass and littering on private property, CBS…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[74,9092,7818,8239,11924,1559,1873,21137,28157,2109,1342,2219,305,42,2959,78,2205,3375,8526,43,45644,45604,4062,3767,7574,29889,40,38,41,39,5839,3608,25152],"class_list":{"0":"post-322885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-against","10":"tag-allegedly","11":"tag-american","12":"tag-arrested","13":"tag-called","14":"tag-charges","15":"tag-criminal","16":"tag-dropped","17":"tag-family","18":"tag-five","19":"tag-gone","20":"tag-have","21":"tag-headlines","22":"tag-high","23":"tag-in","24":"tag-involved","25":"tag-killed","26":"tag-latenight","27":"tag-news","28":"tag-paper","29":"tag-prank","30":"tag-school","31":"tag-students","32":"tag-teacher","33":"tag-toilet","34":"tag-top-news","35":"tag-top-stories","36":"tag-topnews","37":"tag-topstories","38":"tag-tragically","39":"tag-were","40":"tag-wrong"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}