High school football star arrested at school on murder charges

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A star athlete at a local high school is being held in jail without bond after police arrested him on murder charges.

“It’s amazing how kids can ruin their lives at the stroke of a minute ya know – just seconds,” parent Allen Russell said.

Russell’s son is a junior at Alexander High School.

The teen told Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes he knew about the arrest of his classmate and football player Jalen Morgan.

His father didn’t know it and was shocked when Fernandes told him because he said Alexander High School is a top school.

“We don’t hear about that stuff around here very often,” Russell said.

Police arrested Morgan on campus last week because they said he was part of a conspiracy to commit murder in May of last year.

Investigators said seven people were involved and Morgan, along with his cousin LeAndrea Morgan, acted as the lookouts for the crime.

“Two of these individuals had pre-existing issues with each other and they showed up in an attempt to commit this act,” said Sgt. Jesse Hambrick, with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

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Fernandes learned that the intended target for the murder was not the person shot and killed.

The documents say that during the robbery, one of the suspects fired a shot at the intended target -- Kenneth McClary -- but McClary shot back and killed the suspect.

Now, all seven suspects are being held in jail without bond.

Police arrested the suspects just a few weeks after the murder, and last week they arrested the Morgan cousins. They've wrapped the case.

“These last two were the last two that they expect and they’re ready to move forward from there,” Hambrick said.

Each suspect is facing several charges, and one is accused of being a gang member. Investigators said he's part of the Bloods.

They're saying he committed the crime with the intent to maintain and increase his status as a known gang member.

Cox Media Group