Georgia Football Player Shot Multiple Times Before Game, Family Say

A teenage football star found dead just 24 hours before his team's first State Championship match in decades was a victim of foul play, police believe.

The body of Manchester High School student Brandon Smith, who was just 17, was found in an overgrown alleyway not far from his home in Manchester, Georgia, on Sunday.

The talented athlete had been set to star in the Georgia 1-A State Football Championship on Monday, with his team playing against Bowdon High School at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. But Smith never made it on to the field and, in a heart-breaking tribute, his teammates carried his 52 jersey when they entered the stadium to show that he should have been walking out beside them.

No cause of death has yet been revealed by the authorities, but Smith's family told local news station 11 Alive that they were told the teenager had been shot multiple times and that police are now searching for his killer.

Chief Gray Couch, of Manchester Police Department, told Newsweek: "Unfortunately, I can't give you a whole lot of information about this case. However, I will say that our department received a 911 call reporting what they believed to be a deceased person behind a residence on Third Avenue in Manchester.

"My officers responded to the location to find a black male with no signs of life, behind a residence in a thick, wooded area," Couch added. "Because foul play is suspected, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called and is taking the lead in the investigation. That's all I can say at this point due to the ongoing investigation."

The teenager lived with his grandparents, and his grandmother Maxine Smith told 11 Alive: "They took my baby from me. My heart is broken."

His grandma said she first became worried on Thursday night when her grandson failed to return home: "I woke up Friday morning and I knew he was gone. So I'm up, kept calling his cell phone, couldn't find him, couldn't find him, so I called the school."

Brandon Smith was reported missing shortly afterwards, and Maxine Smith said it was his football coach, Stephen Holmes, who broke the news to her that her grandson had been found dead at the weekend. She said she understood that he had been shot multiple times.

Paying tribute to the teenager, Maxine Smith described him as a kind person who lived for his family and football.

Other relatives spoke to another local station, WSB-TV, to pay their own tributes.

The boy's grandfather spoke on camera, although he was not named, and said: "He never missed a day of school or football practice[...] I don't know who would want to hurt my grandson. He was very humble, very outgoing[...] Everybody knew him in this little town. His name was popular down here."

The victim's sister, Janiyah Smith, added: "I just wish they hadn't took him so early, because he made plans. And I was hoping to see those plans. I really miss my brother. So cherish your brothers and sisters while you still have them because you could lose them tomorrow."

The game that Brandon Smith had been training so hard for—his school's first championship game for 26 years—ended up being played without him.

His teammates posted on X (formerly Twitter) that they were playing in Smith's honor. Sharing photos of their slain player, they wrote: "ITS GAME DAY‼️ LETS GOOOOOOOOO‼️ THIS ONE FOR YOU BSMITH‼️ We Love You Man‼️"

However, despite doing their best to win for Smith, the Blue Devils lost 27-28 to the Bowdon Red Devils.