Gwinnett Daily Post

Jasmine Benjamin/Twitter

LAWRENCEVILLE -- Police at a south Georgia college are investigating the slaying of a Lawrenceville teenager.

University police discovered the body of Jasmine Benjamin Sunday in the study room of her dormitory at Valdosta State University, said Commander Brian Childress of the city police force.

With no obvious signs of trauma, officials requested an autopsy, which was performed Monday at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab in Macon, he said.

Although the cause of death has not been released, due to pending toxicology reports, Childress said Benjamin's death is now being treated as a homicide, and the campus police force requested assistance from the city department and the GBI.

"We have not identified anyone we are ready to arrest," Childress said, but added that the investigation has identified several individuals of interest in the case. The commander said the college's Thanksgiving break has meant a delay in interviewing students, but the detectives plan to be back on campus Monday.

"This is a very, very popular girl. She had a lot of friends," he said. "The more we look into the case, the more we find she was loved."

Childress asks that anyone with information about the homicide call the city’s crime tip line at 229-293-3091 or the university police at 229-333-7816.