Brayden Andrew Smith appeared in some of the last episodes of Jeopardy with Alex Trebek, and he impressively dominated the show five times.
Sadly, the young contestant who was branded ‘Alex’s Last Great Champion’ as he won more than $115,000 tragically passed away from undisclosed causes, his obituary said.
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Smith was hospitalized at a Southern Nevada hospital before he passed away.
The exact cause of death hasn’t been revealed but a relative told KLAS that the 24-year-old died from complications of surgery.
A family member also said that Smith had suffered a medical emergency and passed away from natural causes, TMZ reported.
Smith’s grieving mother, Debbie Smith, shared the heartbreaking news on Twitter and said that he “passed away unexpectedly.”
“We are heartbroken to share that our dear Brayden Smith recently passed away unexpectedly,” she wrote.
“We are so grateful that Brayden was able to live out his dream on @jeopardy.”
According to Smith’s obituary, he was “a voracious reader and autodidact, a lover of knowledge and an advocate for justice.
“His room was bursting with books on political science, philosophy, economics and history.”
The young brainiac graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a degree in economics. He wanted to attend law school and become a lawyer for the federal government.
Jeopardy!’s executive producer Mike Richards previously told Entertainment Weekly that Trebek was also a fan of Smith.
“I could tell that he very much enjoyed that young man, and that was fun to watch. I think that energized him,” he said.
The show also took to Twitter and wrote: “The JEOPARDY! family is heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brayden Smith. He was kind, funny and absolutely brilliant. Our deepest condolences go out to Brayden’s family. He will be missed.”
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