The funeral for Elijah Dewitt is set for 6 o’clock this evening in the Arena at Jefferson High School. The 18 year-old Jefferson High School football star was shot and killed one week ago tonight in Gwinnett County. Two suspects, teenagers from Lawrenceville, were arrested in Anderson County South Carolina and are charged in his murder.
From Fox News Digital…
The longtime girlfriend of a Georgia high school football star gunned down in a mall lot by a Dave & Buster’s recalled the harrowing shooting during the couple’s date night — and her decision to forgive the two teen suspects apprehended in South Carolina — during an interview with Fox News Digital.
Elijah DeWitt, an 18-year-old wide receiver nicknamed “Eazy E” by NFL legend Cam Newton himself, suffered fatal gunshot wounds in the parking lot of the Sugarloaf Mills Mall in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on Oct. 5.
His girlfriend of nearly five years, Bailey Reidling, recalled that they had gone to Dave & Buster’s for what amounted to a double date night of games with some friends. She said DeWitt kissed her on her forehead and slipped her his credit card to go get food before she and another friend, Angel, went to the bathroom.
She came out looking for her boyfriend, thinking that he and another friend, Oscar, were getting tickets or playing foosball but realized they were outside and suddenly saw “everything’s red.”
“I run over to Elijah, and he’s on the ground, and I go right over to him, and he mouths to me — the last word he said to me was ‘help,’” Reidling told Fox News Digital. “You’re screaming in the moment because you’re in shock. So, it’s like a scream that you don’t try to do, it’s just coming out. I checked his pulse, and I got freaked out because there is nothing going on there. Some sweet lady came around the corner and said, ‘Baby, he just got shot. Calm down. We called 911. They’re already on their way.’”
Two days later, Gwinnett County police announced the arrests of two suspects: Kemare Bryan, 18, and Chandler Richardson, 19, both from Lawrenceville and ultimately apprehended in South Carolina.
Both Bryan and Richardson are facing charges of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies in connection with the murder of DeWitt.
The two teens are set to be extradited to Gwinnett County this week as funeral preparations are underway to honor DeWitt on Wednesday. No motive has been announced.
Despite the heartbreak, Reidling said, like DeWitt’s family, she’s chosen to forgive the suspects, saying, “This is not the only crime, it is everywhere.”
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