Cherished teacher mourned following deadly crash with driver who was being pursued by ICE
SAVANNAH, Georgia — Kindergarten and first-grade students in Linda Davis’ classes sobbed and shed tears after learning that their teacher, who greeted them most days with an infectious smile, would not be returning.
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 as he fled a traffic stop by immigration officials.
“It was extremely difficult to tell the 5- and 6-year-olds that the teacher they loved and cherished would not be coming back to see them,” said Alonna McMullen, principal of the Herman W. Hesse K-8 School in south suburban Savannah. “Seeing their expressions, it broke my heart.”
Teachers in Hesse were trying Thursday to create a normal routine for students, but their grief remained fresh.
Many people, on their daily journey to and from school, pass the scene of the accident where a cross made of red roses and several bouquets of flowers were left in the median. A paper sign on the ground reads: “Rest in peace & Power, Dr. Davis.
Students in Davis’ two special education classes drew pictures of her to help them cope with the news of her death. And teachers made banners in his memory to display at the school’s home basketball game Thursday.
Davis began teaching at Hesse in September after the school year began. His optimistic personality and dedication to helping students with special needs thrive quickly endeared him to his fellow teachers and students.
“Even the most difficult students, she knew how to make them shine,” McMullen told reporters.
Davis had been teaching in the Savannah area since 2022. Outside of her job, she was raising four children of her own and was the guardian of a fifth, according to her sister, Felicia Jackson.
“The avoidable, sudden and violent loss of his presence and love has created a void of grief so vast that it seems to fill the Mariana Trench,” Jackson said in a social media post.
Standing nearly 6 feet tall, Davis “filled her house with laughter and music,” Jackson said, recalling how her sister loved singing Disney songs and showing tunes with her children “at the top of her lungs.”
“This was Linda: fully alive, engaged and loving,” Jackson wrote.
Federal immigration agents have faced increased scrutiny for their aggressive tactics during the Trump administration’s nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration, particularly since they fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson and Chester Ellis, chairman of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, questioned whether the pursuit that ended in Davis’ death was necessary.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Lindsay Williams, said the fleeing driver had no criminal history but was in the United States illegally.
Security camera video filmed outside the school Monday morning shows a red pickup truck speeding past the school, followed seconds later by two law enforcement vehicles with flashing lights.
Authorities identified the driver of the truck as 38-year-old Oscar Vasquez Lopez. He suffered minor injuries, police said, and was jailed for vehicular homicide and driving without a valid license.
ICE agents arrested Lopez to carry out an immigration judge’s 2024 deportation order, Williams said, and Lopez left as agents approached his vehicle. ICE said in a news release that Lopez crashed into Davis’ car after making a U-turn and running a brake light.
“He is presumed innocent and the legal process will determine the outcome,” said Don Plummer, a spokesman for the Georgia Public Defender Council, which has an attorney representing Lopez.
