When American Idol contestant John Foster stepped onto the stage to perform his original song, Tell That Angel I Love Her, it was more than just a performance — it was a tribute, a memory, and a message of enduring love.
The 21-year-old from Addis, Louisiana, wrote the song just days after losing his best friend Maggie Dunn, who, along with Caroline Gill, was tragically killed in a police pursuit crash on New Year’s Eve 2022. The crash happened when Addis Police Officer David Cauthron ran a red light at 86 miles per hour without braking, slamming into Dunn’s vehicle. Maggie was 17. Caroline was 16. Maggie’s younger brother, Liam, survived the crash.
The tragedy sent shockwaves through the Brusly community — and through Foster, who was away at the time. Grieving and searching for a way to honor Maggie, he sat down in his room and recorded a video of himself singing the first verse of what would become Tell That Angel I Love Her. He sent it to Erin Martin, Maggie’s mother — who also happened to be his teacher at Brusly High School.
“My heart just melted,” Martin recalled. “He sent me a video of himself in his room, singing the first verse.”
Foster and Maggie had been friends since middle school, always showing up for each other. She even attended his first-ever gig — and he wore a cream-colored cowboy hat that day. It’s the same hat he wore while singing his tribute on the American Idol stage.
Now, three years later, the song that began as a private message of grief and love has been shared with millions across the country. During the American Idol broadcast, Martin was in the audience, but it was watching the televised version later that left her most moved.
“There were parts we didn’t hear because of the noise and the clapping,” she said. “At the end of the performance, John whispered into the microphone, ‘I love you, Maggie.’ My heart just melted.”
Foster’s raw and emotional delivery helped him earn a spot in the Top 20, but for Erin Martin, the impact goes far beyond the competition.
“Saying Maggie’s name and keeping her memory alive is the best thing for me to hear as a grieving parent,” Martin said. “For John to make the song at all and then to perform it — it’s an example, a tangible example of the light and love that Maggie left behind.”
Martin hopes the moment doesn’t stop at a beautiful tribute. She believes that by sharing Maggie’s story, more people may understand the consequences of dangerous high-speed police pursuits — and be inspired to push for change.
“For a minute, those millions of people were thinking about my child,” Martin said. “Maybe one of those people is someone who has the power to effect change.”
In 2023, Louisiana State Senator Caleb Kleinpeter introduced a bill that passed through the legislature to create a task force to study police chases and reconsider when they are truly necessary.
As Tell That Angel I Love Her continues to echo through homes across America, it carries with it not just the voice of a gifted young artist — but the memory of a friend gone too soon, and a mother’s enduring hope for change.
