Duval County

Victim killed by drunk driver remembered as loving mom, friend

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —

Angel Starr was driving to Southside on the Arlington Expressway when she was hit head on by a suspected drunk driver back in March.

Now, her daughter and best friend are remembering her for the helping and caring person she was.

According to an arrest report, Pierre Jean-Louis was driving the wrong way on the Arlington Expressway on March 15 when he collided with Starr head on.

He was arrested November 6, 2020, on an active warrant in Clay County.

He’s now in the Clay County Jail on $100,003 bond and is being charged with DUI manslaughter.

Florida Highway Patrol responded to the scene March 15.

According to the report, Jean-Louis was traveling west in the eastbound lanes of the Arlington Expressway.

Starr was driving east towards Southside when she was hit head on.

Friends told Action News Jax that she was on her way to go help another friend in need.

“She went over there to help them and then she never came home,” Shannon Theiss, a friend, said.

The 46-year-old leaves behind one daughter, Destiny Richards.

“To find out she wasn’t going to come back was unreal,” she said. “[Angel] was very charming. She had a beautiful smile. She was very ambitious.”

Action News Jax found out on Tuesday that Jean-Louis was also a teacher with Duval County Public Schools. He was hired as an adaptive physical education teacher in 2017.

He worked at Garden Elementary School, with some assignments at Loretto, Mandarin Oaks, and Greenland Pines Elementary Schools.

In a statement, the district said, “Both employees have been reassigned to roles outside of their schools involving no contact with students pending the outcome of external investigations by law enforcement and internal investigations by our Office of Equity and Inclusion/Professional Standards.”