Five time 'Jeopardy!' champion Brayden Smith dies at 24; reason unknown

A former Jeopardy! contestant, and one of Alex Trebek's final champions, Brayden Smith died last week. According to a statement from his mother, 24-year-old Brayden died unexpectedly last week. The family did not give information on the cause of death.

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Brayden Smith's Death

Brayden's mother took to Twitter and shared a picture of Brayden on the game show's set. Alongside the picture, she wrote, "We are heartbroken to share that our dear Brayden Smith recently passed away unexpectedly. We are so grateful that Brayden was able to live out his dream on @jeopardy."

In his last video, Brayden Smith said he was looking forward to appearing on a Jeopardy tournament of champions. "The tournament of champions was my favourite tournament every year since I was a kid," he said. "These people are some of my trivia idols," he added.

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Soon after Smith's mother announced the news of his departure, the official account of Jeopardy! retweeted the statement. Jeopardy also expressed their condolences through Twitter after they heard the tragic news of Brayden Smith's death. The tweet read, "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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Brayden Smith

Brayden Smith's age was 24 when he passed away unexpectedly. He won $117,798 on the program, with his final appearance taking place in Alex Trebek's final week on the air. The shows were recorded in October and Trebek died of pancreatic cancer on November 8. Brayden Smith graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2020. He was an intern with the Cato Institute in Washington, according to the obituary his family provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and he had planned to attend law school to become a government attorney. 

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His obituary read, Smith was a five-time 'Jeopardy!' champion who loved to play the saxophone and listen to musicians like Duke Ellington and the Beach Boys. He was a voracious reader and autodidact, a lover of knowledge and an advocate for justice. He was praised on social media as "Alex's Last Great Champion" and was looking forward to competing in the show's Tournament of Champions."