‘Loving and dedicated’ teacher dies in crash with suspected impaired driver, MS cops say
“Loving,” “dedicated” and “distinguished.”
That’s how colleagues described Tyra Small-Jackson. Now, a Mississippi community is mourning the sudden loss of the beloved educator.
Small-Jackson was killed Saturday, June 22, in a crash with a suspected intoxicated driver, according to a news release from the Gluckstadt Police Department. It happened along Interstate 55.
Investigators said a vehicle was traveling the wrong way in the northbound lanes, where it struck Small-Jackson’s vehicle head on. She had to be extricated from her car and later died from her injuries, police said.
Small-Jackson, who taught at Nichols Middle School in Canton, was a 23-year veteran teacher and was recently named 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year at her school, according to the Canton Public School District.
“Her beautiful spirit will forever live on in the memory and the hearts and minds of the countless lives she touched,” officials wrote in a tribute shared on the district’s Facebook page.
“She dedicated her life to making sure her students felt loved and prepared for the next level,” it continued. “She will be truly missed.”
Two passengers in Small-Jackson’s car suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to authorities.
The wrong-way driver, identified as Jordan Leah Sullivan, was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was charged with aggravated DUI, pending a toxicology screening, police said.
Gluckstadt is about a 20-mile drive northeast from downtown Jackson.
This story was originally published June 24, 2024 at 10:38 AM with the headline "‘Loving and dedicated’ teacher dies in crash with suspected impaired driver, MS cops say."