Dear teacher Linda Davis is heartbroken after a fatal accident with a driver fleeing ICE

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Kindergarten and first-grade students in Linda Davis’ classrooms cried and shed tears after they were told that their teacher, who greeted them most of the morning with a contagious smile, would not be returning.

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Davis, 52, was killed during her morning commute Monday, less than a half-mile (0.8 kilometer) from the school where she taught students with special needs. Local and federal authorities say a Guatemalan man rammed his pickup truck into Davis’ car while fleeing a traffic stop by immigration officers.

“It was very difficult to tell the 5- and 6-year-olds that the teacher they loved and cherished was not coming back to see them,” said Alona McMullen, principal of Herman W. Hess K-8 School in Savannah’s south suburbs. “Seeing the looks on their faces, it broke my heart.”

On Thursday, teachers in Hessen were trying to create a normal routine for the students, but their sadness remained.

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Many people on their trips to and from school every day pass the crash site where a cross made of red roses and several bouquets of flowers have been left in the middle. A paper sign on the floor said: “Rest in peace and strength, Dr. Davis.”

Students in Davis’ two special education classes drew pictures of her to help deal with the news of her death. Faculty members crafted signs in her memory to display at the school’s basketball game on Thursday.

“An emptiness of complex sadness”

Davis began teaching at Hesse in September after the start of the school year. Her upbeat personality and dedication to helping students with special needs succeed quickly endeared her to fellow teachers and students alike.

“Even the toughest students, she knew how to make them shine,” McMullen told reporters.

Davis had been teaching in the Savannah area since 2022. Outside of work, she was raising four children and was the guardian of a fifth child, according to her sister, Felicia Jackson.

“The sudden, violent and avoidable loss of her presence and love has created a void of grief so compounded that it seems as if it fills the Mariana Trench,” Jackson said in a social media post.

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Davis, who stands about 6 feet tall, “filled her house with laughter and music,” Jackson said, recalling how her sister loved to sing Disney songs and demo tunes with her children “at the top of their lungs.”

“That was Linda: fully alive, committed, and loving,” Jackson wrote.

Local officials question whether ICE chase was necessary

Federal immigration officers have faced increasing scrutiny for their aggressive tactics during the Trump administration’s nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration, especially since they shot and killed Rene Judd and Alex Peretti in Minneapolis.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and Chester Ellis, chairman of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, questioned whether the manhunt that ended in Davis’ death was necessary.

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U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement spokeswoman Lindsey Williams said the getaway driver had no criminal history but was in the United States illegally.

Security camera video from outside the school Monday morning shows a red pickup truck speeding past the school, followed several seconds later by two law enforcement vehicles with flashing lights.

Authorities identified the truck driver as Oscar Vasquez Lopez, 38. He suffered minor injuries, according to police, and was jailed on charges including vehicular homicide and driving without a valid license.

ICE officers stopped Lopez to serve an immigration judge’s 2024 deportation order, and Lopez drove away when officers approached his car, Williams said. Lopez collided with Davis’ car after making a U-turn and running a stop light, ICE said in a news release.

“He is presumed innocent, and the court process will determine the outcome,” said Don Plummer, spokesman for the Georgia Public Defenders Council, which includes an attorney representing Lopez.