An 18-year-old high school student fatally shot Thursday in an elementary school parking lot in Prince George’s County was the driver in a fatal collision in Upper Marlboro in March, police said. He is the third student at his high school to have died in as many months.
Batson’s family told DC News Now the incident was a carjacking. Police did not confirm this to The Washington Post.
Batson was a senior at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School. On the morning of March 7, while driving to the high school, he was involved in an auto accident that left his passenger, 18-year-old Cayliy Haygood, dead, police said. In a preliminary investigation, police said Batson was attempting to overtake another vehicle when he hit a parked landscaping trailer; police were also investigating whether speed was a factor. Haygood, who was also a student at Wise, died at the scene, police said.
The family hopes to raise $20,000 to bring 18-year-old Cayliy Haygood back home to Texas to be laid to rest. https://t.co/duqINjEBCV
— WUSA9 (@wusa9) March 17, 2023
A GoFundMe seeking help for funeral expenses said Haygood was “beloved.” A photo shows a young woman smiling brightly and striking a pose.
The incident prompted outcry from the community about the section of Ritchie Marlboro Road where the collision occurred, WUSA reported. At a meeting convened in the high school gym, residents asked for traffic lights to slow down drivers.
On March 2, five days before Haygood’s death, another Wise student was fatally shot in an incident on Parkstone Drive. Michael Nwaulu, 17, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said; another adult male was wounded but survived. Authorities have not made an arrest in the case.
“We will do our best to comfort our Wise community during this challenging time,” principal Taryn Washington said in an email to families Friday, after the announcement of Batson’s death. “A support team of school psychologists and professional school counselors will be here to help students and staff work through their feelings. Counseling will be available as long as necessary.”
Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the cases, including if any of them might be related.
Jasmine Hilton contributed to this report.