Former football star from Atlanta missing, feared slain

By Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Nick Turner, a Parade All-American running back at Washington High who went on to play at Mississippi State, has been missing since Saturday night and is feared dead.

His mother, Jennifer Dix, told Fox 5 she got a call at 9 p.m. Saturday from someone saying Turner had been shot to death on Murphy Avenue in southwest Atlanta. Detectives found shell casings and an assault rifle in the 1300 block of Murphy Avenue, but no body, Officer Otis Redmond, a police spokesman, told the AJC Wednesday.

"Currently, we are investigating this incident as a missing person and not a homicide," Redmond said.

Turner, 26, made the AJC Super 11 in 2001 and led Mississippi State in rushing in 2003. He played in the same backfield as current Atlanta Falcon Jerious Norwood. But then-coach Sylvester Croom dismissed Turner for off-field incidents, including being charged with passing counterfeit bills at a Starkville nightclub.

Turner finished his career at Murray State.

-- Georgia High School Football Daily contributed to this report.