Accident claims life of former Spencer County High School teacher, soccer coach

A former Spencer County High School teacher and boys’ soccer coach died in a two-vehicle accident Monday morning on Dale Lane.

Alex Wimsatt/The Pioneer News

Bullitt East High School students and staff join hands in prayer during a reflective prayer walk held after school Monday.

Alex Wimsatt/The Pioneer News

BEHS Junior Linda Bellou consoles a classmate in the background while a student bows her head.

Shannon Brock

Spencer Countian Brian Walters was killed in this two-vehicle accident on Dale Lane on Monday. Walters was driving the Honda car. The driver of the truck, David Gregory, was transported from the scene to University Hospital in Louisville.

Courtesy of the Walters family

Brian Walters

Brian Walters, 38, who taught and coached at SCHS in the early 2000s, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Shelby County Deputy Coroner Jeff Ivers.
Walters was most recently employed at Bullitt East High School where he taught English.
Ivers said from the information he collected, he believed Walters was on his way to work.
At 6:44 a.m. Monday, the Spencer County Sheriff’s Department received a call of a two-vehicle accident on Dale Lane, said Kentucky State Police Sgt. Scott Felder. Felder was a part of the KSP reconstruction team that responded to the scene.
Walters was traveling west on Dale Lane when his black Honda passenger car veered off the roadway, Felder said.
Walters apparently overcorrected and came back on the roadway into the path of a black Ford F150, which was traveling eastbound, Felder said.
The driver of the truck, David B. Gregory, 57, of Taylorsville, was transported to University Hospital in Louisville.
Felder said state police had not named any factors in the accident, but said it is possible, with the early morning hour, that the roadway was slippery.
Ivers said Walters died from blunt force trauma and that his office is continuing its investigation along with state police.
Walters was wearing a seatbelt, but Gregory was not, according to a news release from state police.
Alcohol and drugs are not suspected as a contributing factor, the news release said.
In addition to KSP and the Shelby County Coroner’s Office, the Spencer County Sheriff’s Department and the Taylorsville-Spencer County Fire Department responded to the scene.
Walters is survived by his wife, Angela, and two small children, ages 2 and 3.
Angela Walters told The Spencer Magnet on Tuesday morning that she appreciated the community’s response and support.
“We’re praying for the other person who was injured,” Angela Walters said. At the time, she said she did not know his name.
A devastated principal broke the news to students and staff shortly after Walters’ family was notified.
Bullitt East principal Willie Foster said reactions ran the gambit, from shock and disbelief to sadness.
Within an hour 30 counselors and Bullitt County Public Schools central office staffers were at the school offering support to those mourning the loss of a man who was devoted to his family and his students.
“His memory will be that he took care of kids,” Foster said.
Walters began his career with Bullitt County Public Schools seven years ago when he joined the faculty of North Bullitt High School.
Before BCPS, Walters taught in Spencer County and for the last four years he taught arts and humanities and English at Bullitt East.
Walters was fondly remembered by his students at Bullitt East.
Junior Morgan Raymer, who joined more than a dozen students and faculty members for a prayer walk organized by student Linda Bellou, said she couldn’t believe it when she learned of Walter’s passing.
“I thought, out of all the people in the world, it had to be him?” she said. “I was shocked.”
The moment she heard, Raymer flashed back to her freshman year when she was in Walters’ leadership class.
Raymer fondly remembered a class retreat she went on with Walters, who brought his wife and kids along for the camping trip.
“Mr. Walters made it fun,” Raymer said. “He made everything fun.”
Bullitt East English teacher Deborah Turner said she was shocked when Foster broke the news to her Monday morning.
Having shared a classroom with Walters since the beginning of the school year, Turner said she knew something was wrong when he didn’t show up for class.
Turner said it would’ve been uncharacteristic for Walters to have missed a class without calling in, adding that she couldn’t remember a day he didn’t show up to school with a cup of coffee in his hand.
Turner said the saddest thing about Walters’ passing is that the school will never know the greater impact he could’ve made had his life not been cut short.
“So many kids won’t get to experience his wisdom,” she said. “Bullitt East will never know his full potential.”
Services for Walters have been scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday at Newcomer Funeral Home in Louisville. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.

Alex Wimsatt of The Pioneer News contributed to this report.