New Details About Brayden Smith’s Shocking Death

Smith’s family members told 8 News Now that Smith died after suffering complications from surgery.

According to The Las Vegas Review-Journal, Smith was hospitalized at a southern Nevada hospital days before his death.

A week after his passing, Smith’s mother Debbie tweeted, “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 response to the sad news, the “Jeopardy!” account 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.”

According to his obituary, Brayden was preparing to compete in the show’s Tournament of Champions at the time of his death

Brayden appeared in some of the final episodes hosted by the late Alex Trebek, who died in November.

Two months later, Brayden remembered Alex, saying, “The best part of it for me was spending time with [Trebek]. Doing the questions and answers is almost incidental, I think, to spending time with somebody who I had cherished in my life for such a long period of time... I think back on it all the time and really savor each moment that I got to have with him."

“Jeopardy!” executive producer Mike Richards recently told Entertainment Weekly, “[Trebek] did, I believe, really like Brayden. I could tell that he very much enjoyed that young man, and that was fun to watch. I think that energized him."

Brayden, who was dubbed "Billy Buzzsaw" by Alex, was a five-game winner. He is survived by his parents and three brothers.