By Joe Johnson
Two teens have been indicted for the murder of a star Jackson County football player.
The teens allegedly shot and killed 17-year-old Elijah DeWitt in October during an attempted armed robbery at a Gwinnett County mall.
DeWitt was a standout senior wide receiver for the Jefferson High School Dragons.
Kemare Bryan and Chandler Richardson, both 19 and from Lawrenceville were indicted last month by a Gwinnett grand jury each on one count of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony.
According to the Gwinnett County Police Department, the two defendants were looking for someone to rob the night of Oct. 5 at the Sugarloaf Mills shopping mall in Lawrenceville.
DeWitt was with friends at the Dave & Buster's arcade and sports bar located at the mall, where he met the two suspects days before the killing, according to police.
During the first encounter, on Oct. 3, police said, Bryan and Richardson approached DeWitt and his friends to ask if they could buy marijuana, and there was an apparent subsequent deal that did not involve DeWitt, who was a standout senior wide receiver for the Jefferson High School Dragons.
According to police, Bryan and Richardson were at Dave & Buster’s two days later when they recognized DeWitt and attacked him in the parking lot, where Bryan allegedly shot DeWitt when the victim tried to fight off the assault
The suspects fled the state, according to police, who said they used surveillance video and phone records when tracking them to Anderson County, S.C., where they were arrested.
One innocent young man dead. Two more lives ruined. Three families forever changed. One handgun. I've got plenty of venom to spew about crime and punishment, but not today. Today I wanna make sure we admit that if there had been no gun, there would very likely be no story.