Football community mourns shooting death of Jefferson standout athlete

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - On Thursday, the football community across Georgia mourned the shooting death of 17-year-old Elijah DeWitt.

The Jefferson High School wide receiver was found dead in the parking lot outside Dave and Buster’s at the Sugarloaf Mills mall in Lawrenceville.

“It’s torn up Northeast Georgia. The whole state pretty much is in shock to hear of his passing,” said Lamar Daniels, who run’s Recruit Northeast Georgia, a prep recruiting business.

Daniels said DeWitt had a college offer to play football at Arkansas State. According to his recruiting contacts, Daniels said DeWitt had also gained interest from the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.

On Thursday, the West Jackson Middle School athletic program posted on Facebook that they’ve added #2 stickers on their helmets in honor of DeWitt, who wore jersey number 2.

“We’re losing young men to gun violence left and right and it’s really terrible,” said Daniels, who said he’s had to ramp up conversations with young men about the prevalence of gun violence.

“The times that we live in now, they’re really scary times,” said DeWitt. “People have no care for life, for other people and things like that. So, you have to be careful who you’re being around, especially as a young man, being an athlete, and an athlete that’s considered a star,” said DeWitt.

Atlanta News First crews spoke with some of DeWitt’s friends and teammates on Thursday.

“He had a bright future,” said Bryson Hill.

“Just grief. I’ve known the kid for 7, 10 plus years. And it still hasn’t set in yet, the fact he’s gone,” said Hill, a friend and teammate of DeWitt.

Police officials on Thursday said they believe the shooting was not a random act and that those involved knew each other.

Officials arrested one person on Thursday in Anderson, South Carolina.

Jefferson’s next home game is Oct. 21 against Loganville.