The Crisp County community is mourning the loss of 24-year old Tyler Parker.
He was a Georgia State Patrol Trooper, and formerly a Crisp County Sheriff's Deputy.
On Monday night, Parker died in an car crash while he was off-duty when he hydroplaned and smashed into a tree.
"Yesterday's scene was horrific," said Crisp County Sheriff Bill Hancock.
The accident happened on Arabi Warwick Road around 6:30 p.m.
Parker's 3-year old daughter was in the back seat of the car and was critically injured as a result of the wreck.
"He was a shining star in law enforcement," said Hancock. "He was Tyler Parker. He was a great young man that knew what he wanted to do early on, worked it all out, and he did it."
On Tuesday, only mangled metal and broken taillights remained at the scene of the accident, which Sheriff Hancock helped clean up.
"You do your job and later on you realize what a tremendous loss this is," said Hancock.
In 2014, Sheriff Hancock says he gave Parker his first job in public safety at the Crisp County Sheriff's office.
Eventually he moved on and became a state trooper.
"I think the community can just pray and stand together and be strong. This is a young man. A 24-year old that's been snatched from this community that had a lot to offer and could carry us a long way and now he's been taken from us," said Hancock.
On Tuesday afternoon, a family member told WMAZ that the 3-year old is no longer in critical condition and is expected to recover.
At this time no funeral arrangements have been made for Parker.