![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/v-arrest-in-manchester-hs-student-murder_waga6d59__00.00.05.56.jpg\")
article <\/p>\n article <\/p>\n
Brandon Smith was found dead in 2023 behind a home in Manchester, Georgia. (Manchester High School) <\/p>\n
MANCHESTER COUNTY, Ga. – Authorities with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation say they’ve made another arrest in the 2023 deadly shooting of a Manchester High School football player.<\/p>\n
Officials say 17-year-old Qua\u2019vion Jakwon Cooper is facing a murder charge in connection with the death of Brandon Smith.<\/p>\n
The backstory:<\/p>\n
Smith was last seen alive on Dec. 7, 2023, according to the GBI. He was reported missing two days later. The next day, his body was found behind a home along 3rd Avenue in Manchester.<\/p>\n
Investigators immediately suspected foul play was involved, and the Manchester Police Department asked the GBI to help them with the investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith was a student at Manchester High School and played on the defensive line of the school’s football team.<\/p>\n
![\"Teammates](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/BHDN_V-MANCHESTER-HS-PLAYER-HONORED-10A_WAGA8871_146-copy2.jpg\")
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Teammates from Manchester High School honor 17-year-old defensive line Brandon Smith, whose body was found the day prior to the state championship game, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Dec. 11, 2023. (FOX 5)<\/p>\n
In a letter to students and parents, Meriwether Schools Superintendent Robert Griffin and Manchester High School Principal Suzie Neal said that they were “heartbroken” by the news.<\/a><\/p>\n The 17-year-old defensive lineman was remembered as a “loyal teammate and friend who excelled on and off the field.”<\/p>\n Dig deeper:<\/p>\n Nearly a month after Smith’s disappearance and death, GBI agents arrested and charged then-19-year-old A\u2019darius Jashawn Williams.<\/a><\/p>\n Investigators say that Williams shot and killed Smith during an argument.<\/p>\n A’darius Jashawn Williams <\/p>\n Authorities now say that cooper “aided and abetted” Williams.<\/p>\n Cooper is now in custody at the Meriwether County Jail.<\/p>\n What you can do:<\/p>\n The investigation remains ongoing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Authorities are asking anyone with information that could help in the case to contact the GBI’s regional investigative office in Columbus Field Office at (706) 565-7888 or send an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-597-8477.<\/p>\n Georgia<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a>News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article Brandon Smith was found dead in 2023 behind a home in Manchester, Georgia. (Manchester High School) MANCHESTER…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[11242,7,8673,88,800],"class_list":{"0":"post-25600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-crime-publicsafety","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ga","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114455135516088485","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Untitled-design-42.jpg\")
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