WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ga. — The woman that died in a Friday morning fire was 47-year-old Shelly Tanner, and she was a teacher with Laurens County Schools. Her students say she was not only a teacher, but a friend, and in some cases, a family member.
"She was very mom-like. She made you feel like you could talk to her about everything. She was a good woman, for real," says Lyndsey Davis, one of her former students.
For her and best friend Anthony Edwards, Tanner helped get them through high school.
"She just kept me under her arm like I was family, and then I came into her family, basically, and took care of her son and all that," says Edwards.
He's talking about Tanner's 15-year-old son, Evan, who is being treated in Augusta for burns.
According to the Laurens County Schools Facebook page, Tanner has worked within the district since 2008.
"I would call her mom at school, Anthony did, too," says Davis.
"She helped me through anything at school, like anything I needed, any college stuff I needed, any problems I was having," says Edwards.
Apart from being Tanner's student, Edwards developed a special friendship with Evan outside of school.
"Evan, he's literally like my brother, I love the kid to death. He knows I'll do anything for him," he says.
The two say they wanted to come to the home to see for themselves because they didn't believe it was true. "I don't even know what to say honestly. I'll just miss her, miss her a lot."
The state says the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
RELATED: Update: Washington County mother killed in fire identified as Laurens County School employee
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