Bennett described as ‘one of the best ever'

By Larry Hartstein and Andria Simmons

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Before he was cut down by a bullet during a domestic dispute early Thursday, Rajaan Bennett's life was on a roll.

A respected student, citizen and star athlete at Cobb County's McEachern High School, Bennett had been named an all-state running back and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's 25th ranked college football prospect.

On Feb. 3, all of his hard work in the classroom and on the field paid off when he signed a letter of intent to play football at Vanderbilt, the Southeastern Conference's premier academic institution.

Bennett's road to success hadn't been easy. His family moved to Powder Springs from Florida after Bennett's father was murdered when Rajaan was in the sixth grade.

His ability to overcome adversity earned him the respect of all who knew him.

Asked to sum up what kind of young man Rajaan Bennett was, Kyle Hockman, his high school coach,  said simply, "just one of the best ever."

Bobby Johnson, who would have been his head coach at Vanderbilt, released a statement that in part read, "As we got to know Rajaan, it became very clear to our coaches that he was a better person than he was an athlete."

In addition to students at McEachern, other metro players who were in Vanderbilt's recruiting class were dealing with an emotional blow.

Roswell High School wide receiver Chris Boyd said Bennett and the other eight Georgia high school football players to sign with the Nashville school earlier this month "were like family."

"I've been texting back and forth with other Vanderbilt recruits all morning," Boyd said. "None of us really know how to react. We're all in a state of shock and can't believe that Rajaan is gone. It's so sad."

Pope High School's Grant Ramsay, an offensive lineman also headed for Vanderbilt, cried when he heard the news.

"I had just gotten home from working out at the gym and was about to get in the shower to get ready for school when … when I got that call," Ramsay said in a low voice.

"I was crushed … I broke down. I had played with (Bennett) in an all-star game, and spent some time with him after that. On signing day, we pretty much hung out together the whole day. This is a hard blow to take."

On the quiet Powder Springs street where Bennett lived, a friend and classmate, 17-year-old Ola Ibiyemi, walked up to the house to pay his respects late Thursday morning. Ibiyemi said he had known Bennett since middle school.

"Since he was little, he knew he was the man of his house," Ibiyemi said. "He always took care of his little brother and sister."

Ibiyemi said word spread quickly among friends and schoolmates about Bennett's death. A friend called to tell him a shooting occurred in his neighborhood around 6:20 a.m., and a short time later someone texted him to say Rajaan was dead.

Ibiyemi said Rajaan's focus was on "school and football. He couldn't wait to get out of here. We all knew he was going to do better things in life.

"I guess with his dad dying, he knew he had to take care of things."

Rajaan was close with his siblings and often included them in outings with friends, according to Ibiyemi.

"He would bring them with him to chill, play games, go swim, play pool, play basketball," said Ibiyemi. "He would say ‘I'm bringing my brother or sister' and we all understood and it was cool, that's just the way it is."

He was also close with his mother and was protective of her. Ibiyemi believed he would have taken a bullet for her.

"Without a question, that's what it had to be," Ibiyemi said. "He wouldn't let nobody disrespect his mom."

At a morning press conference at McEachern, principal Regina Montgomery talked about Rajaan's influence on peers.

"We have a population of 2,200 kids, and when you're Rajaan Bennett, you touch the lives of all 2,200," she said.

She said counselors would be at the school to help students with the grieving process, but, "We don't know what we're going to do tomorrow, we're just trying to get through today together."

Montgomery, Hockman and athletics director Jimmy Dorsey described Bennett as a great caretaker for his special needs brother, who is in the 10th grade.

Dorsey recalled his last encounter with Bennett, on Wednesday when the senior picked up his brother from school.

"I was patting Rajaan on the back and telling him what an unbelievable young man he was, how special he was," he said. "I reached around his back, was patting him on the back and said, ‘You must have wings back there because you're an angel.' And that's really the last words I ever said to that young man as he walked out with his brother. And when I got that call this morning, it shook me up because, you know what? Maybe he was."

Staff writers Michael Carvell, Mike Morris and Chip Towers contributed to this article.