Dunbar's Boseman Dies While Sleeping

Taimika Boseman, a 16-year-old Dunbar senior who played three varsity sports at the school, died in her sleep early Sunday, according to Dunbar Athletic Director Reginald Gordon.

Boseman, who played volleyball, basketball and softball for the Crimson Tide, went to sleep Saturday evening, and after she fell out of bed unconscious, her family rushed her to Children's National Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

"I got that call at about 3:30 Sunday morning," Gordon said, "and it took two phone calls for me to believe it because I had them call me back to make sure it wasn't a bad dream."

Gordon said no cause of death was determined but an autopsy is pending. He added, "It looks like it was some preexisting condition, but we're just not sure yet."

Dunbar junior Rico Dent, one of Boseman's closest friends, said: "I was just talking to her [on the phone] Saturday night, like for two hours. She sounded fine, like nothing was wrong with her."

According to Dunbar girls' basketball coach Jermaine Clark, Boseman became ill during a Dunbar girls' summer league game on Aug. 13. Clark said Boseman was removed from the game and taken to the bench, where she fainted. He said she lost consciousness for about five minutes, after which paramedics took her via ambulance to Children's.

Clark said Boseman was kept overnight and had dehydration and iron deficiency diagnosed. He said she was discharged and prescribed a daily iron supplement.

Clark said he last saw Boseman on Friday night, when she was working the concession stand at Dunbar while the school hosted a football game between DeMatha and Friendship Collegiate.

"She was just an outstanding person," Clark said. "She just loved being around people."

Classmates decorated the hallway walls of Dunbar with posters, which students signed with tributes and well wishes. A poem entitled "Gone but Never Forgotten," written by classmate Catherine Bell, is on a poster adjacent to the school's main office.

A vigil will be held outside her family's home at 113 Pierce St. NW tonight at 7. Boseman's funeral is scheduled for Monday at 9 a.m. at Bible Way Baptist Church in Shaw.