The Baltimore DJ who moved crowds and uplifted students

DJ TNT was capable of magic.

In his hands, the weekend didn’t end. The Baltimore native kept the dance floor busy at “the weekend’s afterparty” — Monday nights at the popular dance spot Melba’s Place on Greenmount Avenue in Abell.

“DJs are really the ones pumping, I guess, a symbolic blood into the venue and into the space, and TNT definitely was an integral part to that,” said Melba Saunders, an operator of Melba’s Place. “Our customers connected with him. They looked forward to him, specifically on Mondays.”

More than 500 friends, family members, fans and members of the city’s nightlife scene visited Melba’s Monday night to celebrate the life of and pay respects to Timothy Summerville Jr., aka DJ TNT, Saunders said. Summerville, 47, died Saturday in a car crash in Elkridge, according to Maryland State Police.

“It was amazing,” Saunders said Tuesday in a text message about the turnout. “He was loved.”

Mayor Brandon Scott remembered Summerville as a man who was always in a good mood and uplifted others. His death was an “unfortunate and unnecessary loss,” the mayor told media after a Monday morning press conference.

“We just have to continue to honor his spirit by pouring into people like he did for everybody else,” Scott said.

Early Saturday morning, Taleb Ait Zakariae, of Rosedale, drove the wrong way on northbound Interstate 95, colliding with Summerville’s Jeep Grand Cherokee. Both drivers were killed, according to state police.

Alcohol and speed may have been factors in the crash, which occurred at approximately 4:30 a.m. around the 44-mile marker near Elkridge, police said. As of Tuesday, it was still too early to provide information on the cause of the crash, police spokeswoman Elena Russo said in an email. The Maryland State Police Crash Team continues to investigate the incident.

As the news spread over the weekend, shocked friends and fans posted online memories and tributes to the DJ everyone called “TNT.”

“I had no idea when you sent me this video a few weeks ago that this would be the last time I would speak with you,” DJ Quicksilva, born Roberto Silva, wrote on Instagram under a clip of Summerville. “Life truly is Not fair at times.”

Summerville was much more than a DJ — he was a dedicated educator at the St. Francis Neighborhood Center in Reservoir Hill, said Lily Goldsmith, the nonprofit’s marketing and communications manager.

An instructor for summer and after-school programs, “Mr. TNT” had a gift for naturally connecting with preteens and teens, notoriously tough critics, through his playful sense of humor and love of music, Goldsmith said.

He had recently created the B.E.A.T.S. curriculum — Bridging Education Arts Through Sound — which teaches students a range of skills, from how to count music beats like a DJ to money management, Goldsmith said. She called Summerville an “incredible person.”

“He was larger than life, and I know a lot of people throw that phrase around, but I think for him, it was really real,” Goldsmith said. “He was such a huge character.”

Summerville went above and beyond to help students, she added, giving driving lessons and hiring some of them to help with his DJ entertainment company, Epic 1 Services.

Many music fans in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., where Summerville DJ’d at spots like Madam’s Organ, will remember his friendly demeanor and ability to inspire exuberant dancing, Saunders said. A DJ TNT set could include 2000s Southern rap, classic R&B and Baltimore club anthems.

“He had a myriad of things that he played, whatever was going to get the crowd jumping,” Saunders said.

A packed crowd gathered at Melba’s once more on Monday night to honor Summerville’s legacy. Saunders said the bar’s tight-knit community — which she described as a “Black ‘Cheers’” — is still shocked by the sudden loss of their friend.

“He definitely left an indelible mark here in the city,” Saunders said.

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