Third suspect arrested in connection to shooting death of star Georgia football player

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A third suspect has been arrested in the death of a 17-year-old star football player who was shot outside a metro Atlanta mall.

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Elijah DeWitt, of Jefferson, was shot to death in a parking lot outside Dave & Buster’s at Sugarloaf Mills on October 5, 2022.

DeWitt was a star player for Jefferson High School in Jackson County.

The Gwinnett County Police Department announced that Kamare Bryan, 18, and Chandler Richardson, 19, were arrested days later in Anderson, South Carolina.

When Bryan and Richardson appeared in court, detectives said text messages revealed that Bryan and Richardson were looking for someone to rob that night and that DeWitt was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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On Wednesday, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office arrested a third suspect in the case. Kpadeh Jones,19, of Lawrenceville was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail. He’s charged with one count of malice murder.

Days before the murder, police said Bryan and Richardson approached DeWitt and his group of friends to ask if they could buy drugs from them.

“They were approached by three individuals who asked the victim if they had any marijuana they could purchase,” a detective said.

The detective said there was an apparent drug deal on Oct. 3, but it didn’t involve DeWitt.

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Channel 2′s Elizabeth Rawlins talked to Dawn DeWitt, Elijah’s mother, who said her son was enjoying his fall break and spending time with family and friends when he was killed. She said that on Wednesday night, he had football practice, played golf and then went to play games at Dave & Buster’s.

“I wish we could say there was a fight or something like that, but he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Dawn DeWitt said.

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