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One killed, another in critical condition following accident in Edgewater Friday morning

Woman killed was teacher at AACo High School
Posted at 12:22 PM, Oct 26, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-26 17:49:07-04

A woman was killed and another is in critical condition following a three-vehicle accident in Edgewater Friday morning, Anne Arundel County Police said.

Police responded to the crash at 6:26 a.m. on Solomons Island Road near Virginia Avenue. 

Police said a Mitsubishi Eclipse traveling south on Solomons Island Road lost control and suddenly crossed the northbound lane in front of a Toyota Sienna minivan. The Toyota struck the Mitsubishi broadside, then sideswiped a Lincoln Navigator also heading north.

The 28-year-old driver of the Toyota, Jessica Ann Lewis, of 200 block of Lynwood Lane in Saint Leonard, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma in Baltimore in critical condition. 

The 20-year-old driver of the Lincoln, Mitasia Da Quiera Lanman, of the 100 block of King Store Road in Gransonville, was uninjured.

The 44-year-old driver of the Mitsubishi, Heather Marie Waibel, of the 1100 block of Primrose Court in Annapolis, was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Police said the preliminary cause of the accident was failure to remain right of center, but the Traffic Safety Section is handling the investigation. Their findings will be reviewed by the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office. 

Waibel had been a teacher at Southern High School in Anne Arundel County since 2011, the school said in a statement sent after learning of her passing in the crash. The school informed students of her death and is offering counselors and school psychologists to any staff or students who would "had a need to talk about their feelings." Those resources will be made available as long as necessary, Principal Kathryn Feuerherd said in a statement. 

"She was an outstanding math teacher who also served as the adviser to our National Honor Society," Feuerherd said in the statement. "She was passionate about teaching and inspired a love for math in everyone with home she interacted."

The statement confirmed that, after consultation, the planned Homecoming pep rally scheduled for Friday afternoon as canceled, but the evening's football game, and Saturday night's dance, will go on as scheduled.

"The close-knit nature of our school and our community is a tremendous asset, and it will sustain us through these difficult times," Feuerherd's statement read. "I know you will keep Ms. Waibel's family in your thoughts and prayers in the difficult days and weeks ahead, and I know I can count on all of us to help each other as well."