Latara Patrice Worthy was a rising star, her family said.
The sixth-grade language arts teacher was the cheerleading and dance instructor at Woodland Middle School.
She taught reading at the Fulton County Juvenile Justice Center, and she had just completed a master’s degree in education from the University of Southern California’s online studies program.
“She was an extraordinary woman who had an extraordinary future,” her aunt, Wilhelmina Shanks told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday, Worthy’s 30th birthday.
Days before, however, she was struck and killed by an alleged hit-and-run driver while walking on South Fulton Parkway in Union City, less than a mile from her home. The motorist, Jamonta Leon Smith, 20, turned himself in to police Tuesday.
“It was a lifetime of hurt,” Cherry Worthy, Latara Worthy’s mother-in-law said.
Left behind are Latara Worthy’s husband of two years, Jarrett, and their 1-year-old daughter Lauryn.
"Justice will be served," he told Channel 2 Action News on Monday. He declined any further interviews Tuesday.
“When he talks about it, he just tears up … and then I tear up,” his mother, Cherry Worthy said.
Latara Worthy went out with girlfriends Saturday night to celebrate in anticipation of her coming birthday. Jarrett remained at home with their daughter and a fever, Shanks said.
But early Sunday morning, she was outside the car she had been riding in, walking on South Fulton Parkway near Mason Drive when she was hit.
Union City police won’t say who was driving the car and are still investigating the circumstances that led Latara Worthy into the path of Smith’s car.
But the stretch of South Fulton Parkway where she walked is pitch black at night, save for the amber glow of industrial buildings tucked behind trees on either side of the four-lane road, and the alternating red, green and yellow lights of the traffic signal installed at the intersection of Mason Road after another vehicular tragedy in 2008.
Smith surrendered to police Monday, saying he hit something in the road when he crested the hill on the westbound side of the road.
“After stopping his vehicle, Smith opened the door and looked to see what he had struck,” Union City police Detective Gloria Hodgson said. “After failing to see anything, Smith continued home.”
Police have interviewed witnesses and charged Smith with vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an accident (which makes the first charge a felony, according to Georgia statute) and failure to provide aid.
Smith was taken to the South Fulton Regional Jail, where he was released Tuesday on $16,000 bond.
“It was the right thing to do,” Shank said of Smith’s surrender. “But it doesn’t take away the pain. It doesn’t bring Latara back.”
And her loss was felt Tuesday by students at Woodland.
Grief counselors were sent to classes for students and teachers, the family said. And students sent dozens of letters, notes, cards and pictures – most they created in class Tuesday – to the Worthy family showing their sympathy and how much they cared for Latara Worthy.
Latara Worthy was born in Tallahassee, Fla., and grew up in Atlanta, graduating from Banneker High School before attending Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
She met Jarrett Worthy in 2005, and they married in April 2010.
Now, Cherry Worthy said, family will have to step in to help Jarrett Worthy raise Lauryn.
“She is going to have to grow up without a mother,” Cherry Worthy said of her granddaughter.
“Lauryn will receive all the extra love her family can give,” Shank said.
The funeral is set for 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Elizabeth Baptist Church, 4245 Cascade Road, Atlanta. Gus Thornhill’s Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
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