Natasha Ann Hunter and Gary Eugene Early grew up together in the Cherry Hill neighborhood of Baltimore. The families lived three doors down from each other.
After life took them in different directions, Hunter, 41, and Early, 52, would reunite years later and get engaged, with plans to open their own restaurant in the coming months. Mama Glo’s Kitchen would be a tribute to Hunter’s mother in Baltimore, where the couple lived.
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But before the doors of the soul food restaurant could open, the couple and Hunter’s daughter, Shawde Ajee Nayonta Wicks, 27, were killed in a car crash while driving on Columbia Pike near Briggs Chaney Road in Montgomery County on Monday.
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The biggest snowfall since 2019 hit the region that day, with icy roads and hundreds of crashes reported. Montgomery County police said officers responded about 6:45 p.m. to a black Cadillac SRX that had hit the back of a snowplow.
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Hunter’s sister Pamela Jones said a family friend also was in the SUV. Police said the survivor, whose identity they have not released, was pulled from the vehicle with serious injuries and was taken to a hospital. The driver of the snowplow was uninjured, police said. The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
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Jones said that through the family’s faith in Jesus and support from family, friends and their church, “we’ll get through this.”
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“Even in my sorrow … I have to be grateful and thank God for the time He allowed me to be a sister and a friend,” Jones said.
Family members said they did not know where the SUV was heading or from where the group had started traveling.
Hunter, Early and Wicks were dedicated to community service, Jones said. Hunter was the founder of ROAR Transportation Services LLC — the name is an acronym for Reaching Our Achievements Regardless — providing delivery services in a school bus she renovated for community needs such as blanket drives for people without homes. She later was inspired to start the restaurant.
Hunter purchased the building for the restaurant in April, and Early helped to refurbish it, Jones said. They dreamed that Mama Glo’s Kitchen would serve soul food for the community in West Baltimore. They were inspired by Hunter’s mother, ordained evangelist Gloria “Mama Glo” Hunter, who cooked meals and fed everybody her classics including fried chicken, fish and crab cakes.
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“We wanted to keep her dream and legacy alive,” Jones said, adding that the family is moving forward with plans for the grand opening.
The family also has a carwash called Mama Glo’s on West Lafayette Avenue in Baltimore, owned by Jones’s son.
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“They were people that you could look at as role models in the community,” said Michael Early, Gary’s brother. “Everybody strived to achieve their own personal goals, but [they were] willing to give back to the community at a moment’s notice.”
Wicks, a graduate of Catonsville High School in Baltimore County, worked as an Amazon delivery driver and had “the prettiest smile you’ll ever see,” Jones said. She deeply loved and cared for her 11-year-old brother, who would call her for anything. She and Hunter were very close, Jones said, adding that “her mother was her joy" and her guide.
Early, known for his sense of humor and ability to make others laugh, is survived by his daughter, Kionda Early, 37. Early specialized in substance abuse counseling, Michael Early said.
“He was my pops and I loved him so much,” Kionda Early said. “He was a husband, a good dad, a good friend.”
Jones said the last message she received from her sister — who would have turned 42 on Thursday and had a birthday trip to Hawaii planned — was a text with three emoji of praying hands and a single word.
“She said ‘Amen’ to what I sent her,” Jones said.