Jayden Williams, who was just 22 years old when he became mayor of Stockbridge, Georgia in January, has been removed from office after only 10 months following a string of scandals.
The Stockbridge City Council held a 10-hour hearing on allegations of misconduct against Williams. By Sunday, the city announced his removal from office.
Williams was named mayor at age 22, reportedly making him the youngest mayor in Georgia history. In July, the city council suspended his access to city credit cards, vehicles, and nonpublic buildings while restricting his coordination of city communications pending an independent investigation.
The investigation revealed allegations that Williams misused city funds, damaged a city vehicle, and exchanged explicit messages and nude photos with a high school student who was 18 years old at the time.
Williams claimed he accidentally used a city credit card for a personal purchase because two cards looked similar, stating, “It’s also a purple card.” He added that he reimbursed the city when appropriate.
During testimony before the council, Williams admitted to exchanging explicit text messages with an 18-year-old high school student he met on Instagram. Screenshots of their conversations were shared at the hearing. One exchange showed the student writing: “Uu was rii[.] I prob can’t handle all dat” followed by two weary or frustrated emojis. Later, the student told Williams: “Yo py lookin good asf.”
Williams maintained that they never engaged in physical intercourse but only one kiss and described their relationship as “sexual as in text-messages sexual, not physical sexual.”
The city council voted 3-0 to remove Williams from office, with one council member not voting and another excluded from the vote. His attorney, Robert Kenner, called the process a “witch hunt” and claimed the case was prejudged before it began. Elton Alexander, who now serves as mayor pro tem, described removing Williams as a “tough decision” that brought “a fair and equitable close to multiple troubling accusations that were investigated and verified.”
Williams did not respond to requests for comment.
