A teenager has been charged with murdering Brandon Smith, the Georgia high school football player found shot dead a day before his team was due to play its first state championship in 25 years.
A’darius Jashawn Williams, 19, was arrested and charged Tuesday with the murder of the 17-year-old athlete whose body was found in a wooded area near the local police station, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
“During the course of the investigation, it was determined that Williams shot and killed Smith following an argument,” the bureau said.
It did not elaborate on what the argument was about or any connections between the pair.
Smith was last seen on Dec. 7 and was reported missing two days later, when he failed to return home.
His body was found behind a house on Third Avenue in Manchester on Dec. 10 — the day before his team played the Georgia 1-A State Football Championship.
Smith’s grandmother, who raised the teen since he was an infant, previously said she had tried calling him on his cellphone but could not reach him.
She told The Post she had a feeling something had been bothering her grandson, but that he never told her what it was.
“The way he looked at me like he wanted to tell me something he couldn’t,” she said in a phone interview last month of the last moment she had with him before he snuck out of the house.
“I’m not gonna rest until they catch the killer who killed my grandson,” Maxine Smith said after Manchester High School football coach Stephen Holmes informed the family about the bad news.
His teammates honored him at the state championship, holding up his No. 52 jersey as they walked onto the field ahead of the game, which they lost by one point.
“His game, all his teammates — football was his everything,” the devastated grandmother said of the “senseless” murder. “And he wanted to make it, but his life was cut short.”
Meriwether Schools Superintendent Robert Griffin and Manchester High School Principal Suze Neal wrote a letter to the community.
“Manchester High School’s celebration at playing for the Georgia 1-A State Football Championship has unfortunately turned into something none of us could have fathomed.”
“We are heartbroken to hear the news of the tragic and untimely death of one of our student-athletes, Brandon Smith,” they said.
Smith said she wants her grandson to be remembered for his goodness, saying he was always “good to people.”
Williams has been booked into the Meriwether County Jail. The GBI said the investigation is “active and ongoing.”