Gaithersburg Family Grieves Loss Of Towson University Student

GAITHERSBURG, MD — Mourners have gathered in Montgomery and Baltimore counties to grieve the loss of Mzimazisi Ncube, a 20-year-old Towson University student from Gaithersburg who died in a hit-and-run accident Saturday.

Around 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 8, Ncube — of the 300 block of Burke Ave — was struck by a Toyota Tundra or Toyota Sequoia while he was crossing North Charles Street south of Ruxton Ridge Road, police said. The driver fled the scene.

After getting knocked down, a Mercedes hit Ncube, according to officials. That driver remained on the scene and called 911. Police said Ncube was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.

"Just the sole fact that he could get hit once, you do nothing," Mzimazisi's sister, Zolani Ncube, told WJZ. "And, he gets hit twice, and all I kept thinking in my mind is, what was going on in the last few seconds of his life?"

Ncube was the youngest of five children and had been studying accounting at Towson University, WJZ reported.

"He was by himself," Ziphe Ncube, another of Mzimazisi's sisters, told WJZ. "We're five and we’ve never been by ourselves, and to know that in the last moment — how could you be by yourself?"

Towson University students planned to hold a candlelight vigil for 5 p.m. Tuesday on campus, the university's Student Government Association tweeted.

Before attending Towson University, Ncube was a student at Gaithersburg High School. He played basketball and soccer and volunteered at B.R.O.T.H.E.R.S., a peer mentoring program focused on minority males in Montgomery County, The Baltimore Sun reported.

Morris H. Hudson, who founded the program, called Ncube "a model kid" who had a good support system and didn't need much mentoring from the program, according to The Baltimore Sun.

"I think he just came for the camaraderie," Hudson told the outlet. "He certainly didn't need the program; the program needed him."

On Sunday, about 50 of Ncube's friends held a candlelight vigil outside his family's home in Gaithersburg, Brandon Hackey, who grew up with Ncube, told the Sun.

"His laugh made you laugh, and his smile made you smile," Hackey told the outlet. "He really did deserve all the love he got. He touched the lives of so many people."

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