Jerome Leedell Baxter

Master Jerome Leedell Baxter passed away on March 7, 2026. Born on March 14, 1971, at Cherokee Memorial Hospital in Gaffney, South Carolina, he was the son of the late Jason L. Roberts and Edna, and Mary Ann Baxter-Nelson and Phillip. A native of Gaffney, he moved to Maryland at the age of eight.

Jerome was converted at an early age and joined Shady Grove Baptist Church in Gaffney. He developed a passion for sports, playing baseball and football in his youth. After relocating to Maryland, he enrolled at the Jhoon Rhee Martial Arts Academy in Hyattsville, where he earned his first black belt. A 1989 graduate of Potomac High School, he later attended the College of Southern Maryland. In 1989, he founded and owned Triple Action Martial Arts and the Baxter Karate Academy. He was a member of the Tae Kwon Do Association since 1979, achieving the rank of fourth-degree black belt, and continued teaching martial arts until 2010. He also worked at Starbucks in Washington, DC, for various charter bus and private limousine services, and at Topolino’s Italian Cuisine in Maryland.

He is survived by his wife, Nicole Michele Samuels Baxter; step-sisters Phillicia Nelson of Laurel, Maryland, and Patriece Nelson Lee and her husband Brian of Hyattsville, Maryland; step-niece Sanyia; step-nephews Khalil of Laurel, Maryland, and Brice Lee of Hyattsville, Maryland; step-brothers Craig Anderson of Florence, South Carolina, Alon Jubril Molake of Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama, and Jason Ahmad Roberts of Temple Hills, Maryland; aunts Jeanette A. Roberts, Gloria J. Whitmire, and LaDonna Gregory-Tate, all of Gaffney, South Carolina; uncle Rickey Bernard Gregory and his wife Christine of Gaffney, South Carolina; father-in-law Raymond Samuels; and mother-in-law Wendy Bell Pennick and her husband John of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.