Funeral set for Bartlett High student killed in Elgin motorcycle crash
Funeral services for a Bartlett High School varsity football player killed Wednesday in a motorcycle crash in Elgin are set for Friday.
The janazah, or funeral prayer, for Adnan Azeemullah, 18, will begin at 1 p.m. after the regular Friday congregational prayer at Masjid Al Huda, 1081 W. Irving Park Road, Schaumburg, said Khalid AbdusSami, a mosque elder.
The Bartlett High School community is in mourning over the teen's death. Friends, peers and coaches have taken to Facebook and Twitter to mark their collective grief with posts tagged #PrayForAdnan.
Elgin Area School District U-46 CEO Tony Sanders, who would not publicly share the teen's name at the request of his family, said in a Facebook post that he learned a lot about him from his football coach, Tom Meaney.
“I heard about his love of his family, especially his younger siblings,” he wrote. From Michelle Zappia-Eickmeier, his photography teacher, “I learned that his motorcycle was the subject of his latest photography project. It was Jessica Williams, his English teacher, who shared with me his last essay.”
Sanders said the teen was proud of his accomplishment memorizing all 700 pages of the Quran, which he acknowledged in that essay.
“Finally all the sweat and hard work had paid off and here I am, few months later being congratulated by those who had faith in me, and those who didn't. All that work has paid off. I had done something that I could never have imagined a few years ago. If I can do something like this, then surely my possibilities are endless,” Azeemullah wrote.
Sanders said students told him the teen enjoyed lifting weights and was a good spotter. “I also learned that he was a good friend.”
“Let us all take comfort in this student's own words. His hard work was not lost. His possibilities are endless,” Sanders wrote.
U-46 spokeswoman Mary Fergus said the entire district, and especially the administrators, teachers and students at Bartlett High School, is mourning for him.
“We have shared this news with the BHS community, and counselors and crisis team members have been available (Thursday) to help any students or staff members with this tragic loss,” she said. “We have reached out to the student's family to offer our deepest condolences and support.”
A preliminary investigation determined Azeemullah's motorcycle struck an Elgin Area School District U-46 school bus after Azeemullah failed to stop at a red light at the intersection of Center and Chicago streets, police said.
He was traveling south on Center Street, while the bus driver was traveling east on Chicago Street. The crash occurred around 10:55 a.m. Wednesday, authorities said.
Azeemullah was taken to Presence St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin where he was pronounced dead, officials said.
The 54-year-old bus driver was not injured. There were no passengers on board, authorities said.