BRASELTON, Ga. — A former Georgia high school football standout was found shot to death in a hotel room on the evening of Sunday, July 7.
The Braselton Police Department said officers were dispatched at 5:15 p.m. to The LaQuinta Inn & Suites at 200 Kaival Lane in Braselton, Jackson County, Georgia. When officers arrived, they said they found a man in a hotel room with a gunshot wound to his head.
Braselton Police identified the victim as 20-year-old Ashton Bonner.
According to a social media post from Heard County High School's sports team page, The Heard County Brave Nation, Bonner graduated from Heard County High in 2021. During his senior year, the social media post said he was the football team's MVP and was "electrifying every time he toed the field." The team shared football highlights from Bonner's senior year online here.
"We are deeply saddened and in disbelief over the sudden loss of Ashton Bonner," the post stated. "To know him was to love him, and we are surely going to miss seeing him on Friday nights. Our thoughts and prayers are with him, his family and his loved ones. Forever a part of Brave Nation!"
Braselton Police said Qualiss Simmons Jr. was taken into custody in connection to Bonner's death. According to jail records, Simmons was arrested the same day Bonner was killed. Simmons faces one count of murder and one count of aggravated assault, according to the police department.
Detectives with Braselton Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division are still looking into the circumstances surrounding Bonner's death.
News happens fast. Download our 11Alive News app for all the latest breaking updates, and sign up for our Speed Feed newsletter to get a rundown of the latest headlines across north Georgia.