AUBURN, Ala. (AP) – The father of a slain Auburn football player said his son was a joyous kid who talked about being an FBI agent and scratched plans of going to college in Florida as soon as he met Auburn football coach Gus Malzahn.
Redshirted freshman football player Jakell Lenard Mitchell, 18, died after being shot in the chest early Sunday morning at an off-campus apartment complex.
“Jakell was a fun-loving kid. There were no dull moments around him. His smile, his mannerisms, his personality, he was a good kid. I don’t just say that because he was mine,” Mario Mitchell said of his son.
“If you met him, you’d loved him,” Mario Mitchell said. Jakell Mitchell would have turned 19 on New Year’s Day, his father said.
Auburn police on Sunday afternoon arrested 22-year-old Markale Deandra Hart of Camp Hill, Alabama, on murder charges. Police have not released a motive in the shooting. However, Mitchell’s girlfriend said Mitchell was arguing with a man outside a party when a third man opened fire on him.