Athens woman killed in Ga. 316 collision was on way to teaching job in Barrow County

Lauranne Teyssier

By Joe Johnson

The Athens woman who was killed yesterday in a collision on Ga. Highway 316 has been identified by the Georgia State Patrol as 26-year-old Lauranne Teyssier.

Teyssier was on her way to work as a teacher in Barrow County shortly after 7 a.m. when her Honda CRV crashed into the side of a tractor-trailer truck that was trying to enter the highway from Eighth Street in Statham, according to the patrol.

The truck driver was attempting to travel east on the highway but had to stop in the crossover area, yielding to eastbound traffic, the patrol said.

While stopped, the truck’s trailer was left blocking the westbound lanes of 316 and Teyssie’s Honda crashed into and went under the trailer, killing the driver, GSP said.

The truck’s driver, 66-year-old Richard Fearing of Fayetteville, NC was charged with second-degree homicide by vehicle and improper stopping on a roadway.

Teyssier was on the faculty at the Barrow Arts and Sciences Academy (BASA).

According to the teacher’s biography on the school’s website, Teyssier moved to Georgia from Grenoble, France as a young child. She grew up in Gwinnett County and graduated from Peachtree Ridge High School. Throughout high school and college, she showed her school spirit playing the Baritone/Euphonium in the marching bands.

Teyssier graduated from the University of Georgia in 2018 with a Bachelor's degree in Special Education.

A resident of Athens for seven years, Teyssier began her teaching career at Bear Creek Middle School in Statham before landing a job at BASA.