Authorities say a popular coach and middle school teacher was killed in a car crash Tuesday along with his young daughter.

The Georgia State Patrol said 42-year-old Shawn Linder and Bella Ann, who was nearly 2 years old, were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash near Dublin by Laurens County Coroner Richard Stanley.

The State Patrol said Linder was headed eastbound on Ben Hall Lake Drive in East Dublin when he lost control of his 2005 Cadillac CTS and veered off the road and swerved into an oncoming 2001 Ford F350 work truck driven by 25-year-old Justin Hobbs of East Dublin. Hobbs survived the crash.

Laurens County, Georgia

AJC Staff

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AJC Staff

The Union-Recorder of Milledgeville reported Linder was a special education teacher and athletic director at Johnson County Middle School in Wrightsville. He also coached high school varsity football and basketball at Johnson County High School. The newspaper said he was the husband of its editor, Natalie Davis Linder, and that Bella was her daughter, age 1 year and 10 months.

The Johnson County School System said in a statement that Linder’s “death is a loss to our school and community."