She was the kind of police officer others wanted to be. Along with the uniform, Senior Officer Gail Thomas wore a smile that offered a glimpse of her kind spirit.
Thomas had just started her shift late Tuesday night when she stopped to assist a fellow officer at a single-vehicle wreck on the interstate at the north end of Midtown. It was typical for Thomas, a 20-year-veteran of the Atlanta Police Department, to help whenever she could.
But Thomas didn't make it out of her patrol car before she was hit by a 22-year-old woman police said was driving drunk. Thomas, 46, died on the Brookwood interchange ramp from I-75 southbound to I-85 northbound before she could be taken to the hospital.
"It reminds all of us just how hard the job is," Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Wednesday afternoon. "Every time they put on their uniforms, they're putting themselves in harm's way."
In an instant, two families were changed forever.
Chasity Nicole Jones stopped after striking Thomas and consented to a breath test, which showed her alcohol level at .16, twice the legal level for intoxication, according to police.
Jones, of Stone Mountain, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, first-degree homicide by vehicle and reckless driving, according to Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos.
Jones was taken first to Grady Memorial Hospital, where a blood sample was obtained. Then, she was booked into Fulton County Jail, where she remained Wednesday. Her first court appearance is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday.
At her home Wednesday morning, Jones' mother learned of the arrest from a Channel 2 Action News reporter. Lorelei Jones said she had warned her daughter, a waitress at a nearby Longhorn restaurant, not to drink and drive.
Earlier Wednesday, and several hours away, Jasmine Thomas, a 22-year-old Georgia Southern University student, learned her mother was gone.
"She lived for her daughter," Atlanta police Chief George Turner said of Officer Thomas.
Atlanta officers drove to Statesboro to pick up Jasmine Thomas and bring her home to grieve with other family members, Turner said at an afternoon news conference. Turner said fellow officers were grieving the loss of one of their own, and that she would not be forgotten.
Reed vowed the city would support Thomas' daughter with completing her college education.
Thomas began her career with the city nearly 20 years ago as a 911 dispatcher, a job she held for more than four years, Turner said. Then, Turner said he talked Thomas into becoming an officer, and she did.
Thomas was a member of the department's honor guard and worked in the Zone 5 precinct, Turner said.
Friend and fellow officer Deputy Chief Renee Propes said Thomas always had a smile and was the first to offer a helping hand. "She was a genuinely good person," Propes said.
Officer Katie Riester, who lowered the flag outside Atlanta police headquarters to half-staff Wednesday morning, remembered her fallen colleague as a “great police officer” who “loved policing.”
“She will be so missed by everyone here,” Riester said. “She was such a sweet person. Her smile was just infectious; she could just brighten up a room.”
Thomas was the second female Atlanta police officer to be killed in the line of duty, Turner said. April marks the 12th anniversary of the death of Officer Sherry Lyons Williams, killed while serving an arrest warrant.
Nationwide, Thomas was the 12th officer killed on the job in January, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.
-- Photographer John Spink contributed to this article.
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