Savannah teacher killed after Guatemalan driver flees ICE traffic stop

Davis taught at Hesse School, a K-8 public school located near the scene of the crash. She was the lone passenger in the car.

Credit: Courtesy Hesse K-8 School

Credit: Courtesy Hesse K-8 School

A third vehicle was involved in the accident, but none of the passengers in that car suffered injury.

Lopez was initially transferred to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. He is to be booked into the Chatham County jail upon his release.

In a press release, ICE’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, said Lopez is unauthorized to be in the United States and was issued a final order of removal by a federal judge in 2024.

DHS said ICE officers on Monday observed Lopez enter a vehicle, at which point they attempted a traffic stop. Lopez “initially complied, but then fled the scene, making a reckless U-turn and running a red light, colliding into a civilian vehicle,” according to DHS.

Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said the death “is an absolute tragedy and deadly consequence of politicians and the media constantly demonizing ICE officers and encouraging those here illegally to resist arrest — a felony.”

By law, ICE cannot stop cars for traffic violations. Instead, immigration agents may only pull over cars if they have a warrant or a reasonable suspicion that the driver or passengers are in the country illegally.

That restriction is why ICE often partners with local or state police for operations. Chatham County Police Department said the local law enforcement agency was not involved in — or aware of — the ICE operation or the pursuit until after the crash.

The Chatham County Police Department teamed with ICE last June in arresting immigrants suspected of being in the country without legal permission, with federal agents riding along for at least two traffic stops that resulted in multiple arrests. ICE had requested the local department’s help in the operation, conducted near a majority-Hispanic mobile home park outside Savannah.

A spokesperson for the police department labeled those instances as isolated and said that June day marked the only time ICE agents have ridden along with Chatham County Police Department patrol units.

“The Chatham County Police Department does not have a formal partnership with ICE/Homeland Security, nor do we make it a practice to have ICE agents ride as passengers in patrol vehicles,” the spokesperson, Betsy Nolen, said in a statement.

The teacher killed in Monday’s crash, Davis, was mourned by her colleagues as a “beloved member of our school family.” Davis was a special education teacher at the school and had worked for the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System since the 2022-2023 school year.

School was not in session Monday because of the Presidents Day holiday. Hesse’s principal, Alonna McMullen, said grief counselors would be on site to support students and staff once classes resume Tuesday.

Davis was likewise on the mind of Savannah resident Kate Oakley, who said she was driving the vehicle in the lane next to Davis. Oakley is eight months pregnant and was driving with her 3-year-old toddler strapped into the rear seat directly behind her at the time of the accident.

“If she (Davis) hadn’t been there, he (Lopez) would have hit the driver side of my car, and I’d have lost everything,” Oakley said. “She didn’t just die. She died saving people.”

Oakley said she did not see a car chasing Lopez and that the marked police vehicles she saw were at a safe distance.