Mother asked daughter not to drink prior to wreck that killed officer

ATLANTA,None — An Atlanta police officer was killed in the line of duty Tuesday night.

Police said the 15-year veteran was helping another officer when she was struck on Interstate 75 by a drunk driver.

Chasity Jones, 22, remains in the Fulton County Jail accused of drunken driving and killing officer Gail Thomas.

Meanwhile, Mayor Kasim Reed met with the police department to remember Thomas.

Thomas's daughter is a student at Georgia Southern. Atlanta police officers drove there Wednesday morning and brought her back to Atlanta. A trust fund has been set up for Thomas' daughter. The name of the trust fund is Senior Police Officer Gail Thomas' Daughter's Trust and donations can be made at any Bank of America.

Officers said that's how much they thought of Thomas and how much they said they're going to miss her.

"This just one of those very tough days," said Reed, who joined the police department's command staff to talk about Thomas and the accident that killed her Wednesday afternoon.

"She was always out front. Always willing to do what other folks simply wouldn't. She is a testament to what I hope all of our police officers are," Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said.

Thomas, a member of the department's honor guard, was working a traffic scene along I-75 Tuesday night when police said Jones slammed into her.

They said Thomas never even made it out of her car.

At a late afternoon news conference, one of her friends, Deputy Chief Renee Propes, remembered Thomas as the example of what other officers should be.

"It's hard to convey the kind of person she was because she was such a good, genuine good person, and we're really going to miss her in this police department," Propes said.

Reed promised the city would look after Thomas's daughter, Jasmine, and that she would continue to be able to attend college.

"It reminds all of us, I think, just how hard the job that the women and men of our police department do," Reed said.

Thomas is the second female Atlanta police officer to die in the line of duty.

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Mother learns of her daughter's involvement from Channel 2

Channel 2 Action News went to Chasity Jones' home in Stone Mountain and talked her mother.

Lorelei Jones said she warned her daughter about her drinking.

Channel 2's Jeff Dore broke the news to Jones about her daughter's involvement in Thomas' death. Lorelei Jones broke down sobbing, saying "Oh, no; oh, no."

Dore told Jones her daughter was at the Fulton County Jail.

"My daughter's going to prison. Is she going to prison?" Lorelei Jones asked Dore.

"I don't know, ma'am," Dore responded.

Lorelei Jones said she had told her daughter to quit drinking.

"Well, I just didn't want her to drink and drive with me. And no she's not really had a problem. But she forgets she's drinking I guess. I don't know when she drives," Lorelei Jones said.

Her mother said Chasity Jones worked as a waitress at the Longhorn Steak House on Killian Hill, not far from her home. After work, her mom said, she went out.

"She was in a bar, at a club, she goes to a club … And she told me she wasn't coming home, she was going to stay there. At a guy's house," Lorelei Jones said.

Lorelei Jones said her daughter also worked as a model.

Chasity Jones is expected to make her first appearance in court Thursday morning.

So far, no funeral arrangements have been made for Thomas.

WSBTV