Pair of teens sentenced to life in prison for murder of Jackson County football star player

Elijah DeWitt

By Joe Johnson

Two teenaged defendants have been sentenced in connection with their participation in the 2020 death of Elijah DeWitt, a star football player for Jefferson High School in Jackson County.

DeWitt was fatally shot on Oct. 5, 2022 at the Sugarloaf Mills mall in Lawrenceville.

On Monday, Kamare Bryan and Chandler Richardson both pleaded guilty to felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. At the time of the crime they were 18 and 19 years old, respectively.

Kemare Bryan (r) and Chandler Richardson

Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Ronnie Batchelor sentenced Richardson to life in prison with the possibility of parole, plus five years.

Bryan was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

A third suspect in the case, Kpadeh Jones, who was 17 when DeWitt was killed, is charged with one count of malice murder. It’s unclear if he’s been offered a plea deal.

Authorities say the defendants had approached a group of friends that DeWitt was with outside of Dave & Busters and an altercation ensued in which a gun was fired.