A Georgia high school football player found dead a day before his team was scheduled to play in its first state championship in 25 years was shot multiple times, his family revealed.
The body of Brandon Smith, 17, was found in a wooded area less than a mile from the local police station in Manchester on Saturday, two days after he failed to return home, his grandparents told 11 Alive News.
“I will not rest until they catch the killer who killed my grandson,” said his grandmother, Maxine Smith, who raised the teenager since he was a baby.
He said he became concerned when the athlete, who dreams of playing in the NFL, failed to return home Thursday night.
“I woke up Friday morning and I knew he was gone,” he said.
“So I got up, kept calling his cell phone, couldn’t find him, couldn’t find him, so I called the school.”
Smith was reported missing shortly after, and on Saturday Manchester High School football coach Stephen Holmes broke the bad news to his family.
His body was found a day before his team played in the Georgia 1-A State Football Championship on Sunday. His teammates hold jersey No. 52 when they walked onto the field before a game they lost by just one point.
Brandon Smith, 17, a high school football player, was found Saturday shot to death. Family Distribution
Manchester Police Chief Gray Couch said he received a call from someone “reporting what they believed to be a dead person behind a residence.
“My officers responded to the location to find a black male with no signs of life behind a residence in a heavily wooded area,” he told Newsweek.
“Due to suspected fraud, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in and is leading the investigation.”
So far, no suspects have been arrested, 11 Alive News said.
Smith had dreamed of becoming a professional football player, his grandparents said. Brandon Smith / Hudl
“His game, all his teammates – football was everything,” his grieving grandmother told 11 Alive of the “senseless” killing.
“And he wanted to succeed, but his life was cut short.”
The teenager never caused any trouble before his killer “took his dream away from him,” his grandfather told WTVM.
Family Distribution
After Brandon’s death, Meriwether Schools Superintendent Robert Griffin and Manchester High School principal Suze Neal wrote letters to the community.
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic and unexpected death of one of our student-athletes, Brandon Smith,” they said.
“Unfortunately Manchester High School’s celebration while playing for the Georgia 1-A State Football Championship took a turn for the worse.”
Smith’s teammates honored their fallen colleagues by raising the No. 52 when they walked onto the field on Sunday. WXIA-TV
Then, before the big game at Mercedes Benz Falcon Stadium on Sunday, Smith’s teammates honored their fallen colleague by lifting the No. 52 when they walked to the field.
The Manchester Blue Devils lost by just one point, 28 – 27, but Holmes said he was still proud of his team’s performance.
“Everyone there, our community, the people watching at home — they’re looking for our strength tonight,” he told 11 Alive.
“And those 48 young men, those 15, 16, 17-year-olds went out there and showed it.”
“I’m very proud of them.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
