A Cumming man was found stabbed to death this weekend and his family says the sole suspect was a close friend.
The Rome-News Tribune reports police were notified of an abandoned car in Rome, GA on Saturday. That led authorities to find the body of Aaron William Davis, 21, about 3 miles away on Tumlin Road.
Brandon Christopher Risner, 21 of Rome, was arrested that day and charged with murder. Investigators say he stabbed Davis at least 20 times. One report says Risner moved the body to try to hide it. The body was found buried in a shallow grave beneath a fallen tree in a remote area. The report says that Risner ran from officers as they tried to take him into custody.
Risner was booked into the Floyd County Jail on Saturday and is charged with murder, felony obstruction of law enforcement officers, aggravated assault and concealing the death of another.
Davis was a graduate of North Forsyth High School. Davis recently received his political science degree from Brigham Young University in Idaho and had just passed an exam to enter into a master’s program. His family said that Davis and Risner had both attended the same Latter-Day Saint congregation as teenagers and briefly attended college together.
Davis, who lived with his family in Cumming, had planned to visit his girlfriend in Alabama and was spending the night was Risner on the way. His family became concerned when he did not arrive in Alabama Saturday morning.
On a GoFundMe page to raise funds for Davis’ funeral expenses, his family says Davis had a bright future and was heading into a master’s program. “Most of you have heard by now that our son Aaron was savagely taken from us. We will always love him and miss him. He was the glue in our family dynamic with special ties to each of his siblings and parents. He was loved by his friends. We are still trying to make sense of this tragedy and why this happened.” The funds raised online will go to helping the family to bury Davis in Massachusetts where they have a family burial plot.
There has not been any word on a motive.
