Alabama Police Arrest Suspect After Auburn Football Player Jakell Lenard Mitchell Is Shot, Killed Near Campus
A man has been arrested by Auburn, Alabama police in connection with the freshman football player at the nearby SEC university who was fatally shot over the weekend.
Ayanna Hughuley, the 17-year-old girlfriend of Jakell Lenard Mitchell, who was killed early Sunday morning in an off-campus apartment complex, said he was arguing with a man at a party when a third individual pulled out a hand gun and started shooting, Fox News reports.
"He had his gun like this and was looking at Jakell," she said. "He just started shooting. Jakell fell on the ground and he tried to get back up and run, and then he fell again. He started shooting at Jakell again while Jakell was on the ground."
This apartment building was the same location that two former football players and a third man were shot to death during a 2012 pool party.
Mitchell, who was a redshirted player for the football team, died after being shot in the chest.
Auburn police arrested Markale Deandra Hart of Camp Hill, Alabama, Sunday afternoon on murder charges. Hughuley said she wasn't aware of what started the argument and didn't think Mitchell knew Hart.
Hart, 22, was being held at the Lee County Jail on $150,000 bond. Authorities have not released any information on possible motives for the crime but did say they don't expect to make any additional arrests in the case.
Auburn Police Capt. Will Mathews said that officers answered a call around 12:25 a.m. on Sunday that shots had been fired at the Tiger Lodge apartment complex, just a few miles from the Auburn campus. He said Mitchell was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Mario Mitchell, Mitchell's father, said his son lived in an on-campus dormitory but had gone to the apartment complex to attend the party as students had just concluded final exams for the fall semester.
Mitchell redshirted for the Auburn Tigers this season after playing at Opelika High School. As a player of both back and tight end positions, he was expected to be in the running for a starting spot next year. Despite having to sit out much of his senior season due to an ACL injury, Mitchell rushed for 392 yards and 17 touchdowns as a high school junior.
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