MANCHESTER, Ga. — A teen who was previously charged in the death of a high school football player has pleaded guilty, the Coweta County District Attorney’s Office announced.
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Brandon Smith, a 17-year-old who went to Manchester High School, was last seen on Dec. 7, 2023, and was reported missing two days later.
His body was found on Dec. 10, 2023, behind a home. Investigators determined that he had been shot and killed following an argument.
Smith, a member of the Manchester High School Blue Devils football team, was supposed to be with his teammates the day after his body was found, playing for the Georgia 1A Division II State Football Championship.
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A’darius Jashawn Williams was charged with Smith’s murder.
On Tuesday, Williams pleaded guilty to malice murder for shooting and killing Smith.
Evidence revealed that Williams murdered Smith because “Williams perceived Smith to have disrespected him days prior by taking a gun from Williams’ person.”
The DA said, to settle the score, Williams waited outside for Smith to leave his home, ambushed him, chased him down and shot him.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation found the gun at a different house, matching the crime ballistics, tying it back to Williams.
According to the DA, Williams gave officers an alibi; however, surveillance footage and his cell phone’s location data showed that he was in the area at the time of the murder. Text messages from Williams’ phone also implicated Williams being the shooter.
The State said it was prepared to call witnesses who told the GBI that Williams told them that he murdered Smith.
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A judge sentenced Williams to life with the possibility of parole, which means he will be parole eligible after serving 30 years in the Georgia Department of Corrections.
“This is another tragic case involving the murder of a teenager by another young person,” DA John Cranford said. “Williams and Smith hung out in the same crowd and Williams was a recent graduate of Manchester High School, where Smith attended. It is incomprehensible that Williams would murder Brandon Smith.
“Although the District Attorneys cannot understand why young people continue to shoot at and murder each other in our communities, our office will do all we can to protect the innocent by bringing killers to justice and sending them to prison for decades.
Last week, the GBI and Meriwether County deputies arrested and charged Qua’vion Jakwon Cooper, 17, of Manchester, with murder, as a party to the crime, for his role in the shooting death of Smith.
The GBI said during the investigation, it was determined that Cooper helped and assisted Williams, who shot and killed Smith following the argument. Cooper had been a teammate of Smith on the football team.
Because that case is pending, the Coweta County District Attorney’s Office will not comment on it.
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