It was an
emotional scene outside Frederick Douglass
Academy III Secondary School where mourners remembered special education
teacher Shelly Vilsaint who died in a car crash earlier this week.
News 12
reported that Vilsaint was
killed when her car and two tractor-trailers collided and quickly
caught fire. The crash happened while Vilsaint was on her way
home Tuesday, headed toward New Jersey on the expressway,
according to police. The flames from the crash engulfed all three
vehicles. The NYPD says Vilsaint rear-ended one tractor-trailer,
leading to a second one rear-ending her.
The night before
the crash, students say they were together at a Nets game with Vilsaint. She
took to social media posting a video from the game saying, “Who said you can’t
enjoy being a teacher?”
It would be just
a day later when students would learn about what happened. They said “she would
put a smile on your face” during a bad day and was an advocate for students to
finish high school and move on to higher education.
“She was
everything here. She was the coach of the girls’ basketball team. She did the
PM school, she did Board of Congress…she was there, she was that teacher,” said one student.