Brayden Smith, a five-time “Jeopardy!” champion, has died at the age of 24, his family announced Friday.
The game show shared its condolences in a message on Twitter.
“The JEOPARDY! family is heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brayden Smith,” the statement said. “He was kind, funny and absolutely brilliant.”
“Our deepest condolences go out to Brayden’s family. He will be missed,” the show added.
The Las Vegas native died Feb. 5, according to his obituary published in the The Las Vegas Review-Journal. Smith’s mother Deborah said his death was unexpected.
“We are so grateful that Brayden was able to live out his dream on @jeopardy,” she wrote in a tweet.
She also thanked fans for their outpouring of love, writing, “We can’t express how much your beautiful comments are comforting us during this painfully sad time.”
According to his obituary, Smith graduated from the University of Nevada in 2020 with a degree in economics. He was planning on attending law school to become an attorney for the federal government.
It remains unclear what caused his death.
Smith’s appearances on “Jeopardy!” were some of the last on the show when it was helmed by longtime host Alex Trebek before Trebek died in November at the age of 80 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
After his death, Ken Jennings, who previously won 74 consecutive games on the show, was named interim host.