Another Loss for Meade High Community

The Meade High School community is mourning another loss.

Jaelin Ashe, a ninth-grader at the school, passed away Thursday after being struck by a vehicle while cross a street in Laurel.

"A young man full of integrity, Jaelin was a caring person who never hesitated to stand up for others," Meade High principal John Yore said in a letter to students and parents. "He had an incredibly positive outlook on life, and made his family and friends very proud."

Ashe, 15, was a member of the JROTC program and played in the junior varsity football team.

He is the second Meade High student to die this month after being struck by a vehicle. Ajia Owens, an 18-year-old senior at the school, died Dec. 8 after she was hit while walking in Annapolis.

As the Maryland Gazette reported Friday, the Meade High community has suffered a series of tragedies over the last two years. Two Meade High graduates died in a head-on crash on Route 50 in January, while at least seven other students and recent graduates died prematurely from car accidents or health problems.

"Death is never an easy thing with which to cope, but when it comes to someone so young and in the midst of this holiday season, it is even tougher," Yore wrote. "I know that our school and our community will rally together to help each other and the Ashe family in this difficult time."