Posted: March 9, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

 

Margaret "Peggy" Campbell of Jupiter Farms, Fla., was killed when her car was struck by a pickup truck carrying 5 suspected illegal aliens

Five suspected illegal aliens are in custody after the pickup truck they were in smashed into a car yesterday in suburban West Palm Beach, Fla., killing a popular school principal.
Margaret "Peggy" Campbell, 62, principal at Western Pines Community Middle School, suffered fatal injuries when her four-door Subaru collided with a Dodge Ram.

While the accident is still under investigation, police say preliminary indications suggest the driver of the pickup truck was at fault, for running a red light and striking Campbell's car, which was making a U-turn.

The pickup's driver, 30-year-old Cesar Majia, and his four passengers were not injured, and were taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol and charged with illegal entry into the country.

Paul Miller, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office, said Majia was in possession of a Mexican driver's license, though the nations of origin for all the male passengers were not immediately known.

Campbell, a resident of Jupiter Farms, Fla., worked for the local school district since 1967 and had been principal of Western Pines since it opened its doors nine years ago.

In a prepared release, the district said Campbell "was described by all of her teachers, staff and coworkers throughout the district as a very special, upbeat and positive person who loved her school. ... She always saw the bright side of a situation and cared deeply for her students and her work. ... 'Peggy' spent long hours at work, and the school was her extended family."

Tributes and condolences are now pouring in for Campbell, not only from local residents, but others across the U.S. who knew the principal.

In a special section of the Palm Beach Post, former student Kristen Hobbs, now attending Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, writes: "Each trip home I make a point to visit or contact [Campbell] to keep her up on how I am doing. Due to her genuine interest in her students, she was always so happy to know that she had left a mark in my life. She was a wonderful woman and mentor, and I will never forget her."