The young men and women of Lakeside High School adorned each other with flowers at their senior prom Saturday, the girls wearing corsages, the boys sporting boutonnieres, all in keeping with the theme of the evening, "A Vintage Affair."
One of their teachers, Leah O’Brien, was planning to see those students in their best finery, and had volunteered to serve as a chaperone.
O’Brien was killed and her 8-year-old daughter Kori was critically injured in a car accident Saturday around 6 p.m. in Decatur. In a grotesque coincidence, O’Brien was killed in a collision with two Lakeside High School students on their way to the same prom.
“She was always at the prom,” said Lakeside principal Jason Clyne. “She was one of the regulars.”
O’Brien was attempting to turn left from Ridley Circle into the eastbound lane of Scott Boulevard about 6 p.m. Saturday when her Hyundai Sonata collided with a Dodge Charger headed west on Scott Boulevard, Decatur police spokeswoman Lt. Jennifer Ross said.
Lakeside students didn’t find out why their teacher didn’t make it to the dance until the next day.
Shell-shocked students brought those same flowers back to school on Monday, to gently place them around a photograph of the 33-year-old teacher propped on a makeshift memorial in front of the school.
According to a memo circulated at Fernbank Elementary, Kori's school, the girl was being treated at Children's Health Care Egleston.
The students in the other car were also injured. “They never made it to prom,” said Clyne. “They ended up getting taken to the hospital.” Clyne added that the students were unaware that they had collided with their own teacher until the next day.
“The only person that knew anything about it was me, and I kept my mouth shut,” said Clyne. Neither student injured in the crash came to school Monday.
Kori was still in critical but stable condition, Lt. Ross said Monday. No charges have been filed in the incident, which is still under investigation.
Clyne said O’Brien was a natural mentor, and sometimes worked with students who were headed the wrong way. Volunteering at the prom was, for her, a way to see her efforts pay off — to see these kids dressed-up and behaving well, he said.
“When you see troubled kids at the prom, when you see them put on a tux, you realize they do know how to act right, and it warms our hearts,” said Clyne. “She was looking forward to that moment.”
O’Brien taught family and consumer science at Lakeside and was the faculty adviser for the Purple Diamonds Dance Team, which performs at basketball games and other sporting events.
“She’s a great motivator,” said Georgia Collins, the coach of the dance team, and a bus driver for the school. Collins said that O’Brien organized members of the dance team to participate in a walk-a-thon to raise money for St. Jude, where Collins’ son Archie was treated for lymphoma in 2012.
“We wound up having a very special bond, more than just co-workers,” Collins said. The atmosphere at the school was “unbearable” Monday, she said. “We are concerned about the young man,” mentioning that the student who was driving the car that collided with O’Brien’s car was in one of her classes. “He was very close to her.”
O’Brien has two daughters at Fernbank Elementary, Kori and fourth grader Rachel. Rachel was being cared for by family members according to school officials.
“We knew Ms. O’Brien well,” said Fernbank principal Marshall. “She was a supportive parent, she was a kind woman and most importantly she was a really good mother.”
Marshall added that “the entire Lakeside, Fernbank and DeKalb school community are talking about this. People are waiting and ready to put their arms around these girls and the family and support them in their mother’s tragic passing.”
A candlelight vigil is planned at Lakeside, sometime later in the week, said Clyne.
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