YORKTOWN, Va. - "I said, 'Have a great night; I love you,' and that was the last time I saw or spoke to him," said Tammy Guido McGee, speaking about her beloved son.
Conner Guido was a star athlete at Tabb High School in Yorktown, excelling in soccer and track.
"Conner was an amazing, enthusiastic kid," she said. "He loved to make people laugh and smile, and he was the center of attention wherever he went."
His shining light was tragically dimmed after he left his high school homecoming dance on October 26, 2019.
"His girlfriend called and said, 'Ms. Tammy, there has been an accident,' and at that moment I knew he was dead," she said.
After the dance, her son got into a car with two friends as they headed to an after party, driving east on Yorktown Road.
"There were no skid marks when they took that corner. They hit a tree, flipped the car and all three were killed instantly," McGee explained.
An investigation by the Virginia State Police revealed the 16-year-old driver was unlicensed, speeding and driving a high-performance car.
"I don't think anyone knows what to do in a situation like this," she said.
But McGee decided to advocate for change while honoring her son.
"I just thought he was too amazing and too incredible to let people forget him, and what happened to him shouldn't have happened," she said.
For months, she lobbied for change. House Bill 1918, known as "Conner's Law," passed last week in the General Assembly, requiring all state schools mandate a driver's license to allow for a parking pass permit on school campuses.
Driver's education curriculum was also improved by the law.
"They needed to incorporate speeding into it; driving without a license, reckless driving, distracted driving; because the current curriculum didn't go into all those areas," McGee said.
Besides the bill, McGee also created the Gweedo Memorial Fund, sponsoring high school scholarships for seniors, as well as the "See Something Say Something" website, which allows teens to send anonymous tips about driving.
"What I am doing and what I have done is not going to help my son, but it will help other people," McGee said.
