A haunted house actor confessed to the murder and dismemberment of a high school friend who stayed with him when he went to visit his girlfriend in Alabama.
Brandon Christopher Risner, 23, admitted to killing Aaron William Davis, 21, in November 2022 after surrendering to police.
Cops found Davis’ abandoned Toyota Prius car and later discovered his body buried in a shallow grave near Risner’s home.
But the admission of guilt served only as consolation to Davis’s parents, and his grieving father made a surprising statement about his son’s killer.
Randy Davis says the two men were such good friends that he felt like he had lost a second son.
Haunted house actor Brandon Christopher Risner, 23, confessed to the murder and dismemberment of a high school friend.
Aaron William Davis, 21, was killed in November 2022 while staying at Risner’s home.
He has been a son to us like anyone else. It’s really like losing two children right now. It just felt like a betrayal,” Randy said. 11Alive.
The couple attended the same high school and the same church in Cumming, Georgia.
Davis, a recent graduate of BYU-Idaho, stopped at Risner’s house on the way to Alabama but never arrived at his destination, prompting his family to call police.
The indictment details Risner’s efforts to conceal the crime, including cleaning up blood stains and moving Davis’ body.
“He (Risner) removed Davis’ body from a location on Collingwood Road to another on Tumlin Drive, where he buried said person in an unmarked grave,” a criminal complaint seen by CorteTV read.
“(Risner) attempted to dispose of the vehicle driven by (Davis), which contained blood, and attempted to remove blood from the mattress, carpet and a rug, as well as blood and blood spatter on the ceiling of an upstairs bedroom,” , the accusation states.
Davis and Risner, pictured, had been friends for years, essentially growing up together and attending the same high school and church in Cumming, Georgia.
Randy Davis, Aaron’s father, said losing his own son and Risner going to prison was “like losing two sons.” The couple had been incredibly close while growing up together in Georgia.
Brandon Risner agrees to plead guilty to stabbing, dismembering his best friend
Davis stayed with Risner on his way to visit his girlfriend in Alabama, but the visit cost him his life.
Risner initially fled after the murder, but later surrendered.
Court documents describe how Risner got Davis drunk during a night out at a bar.
Risner initially fled after his friend’s murder, but later turned himself in to police.
After returning to Risner’s house, Davis went to sleep in an upstairs guest room.
At some point during his stay he was stabbed to death.
‘During the night or early morning hours of the next day, (Risner) allegedly used a sharp object to stab Mr. Davis multiple times in the head, chest, torso and extremities, resulting in his death.’ , the court documents detail.
Risner removed some of Davis’s body parts, including a portion of his small intestine.
“(He) placed the deceased’s body in Davis’ vehicle, drove to another location and buried it in an unmarked shallow grave.”
Risner pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including murder and tampering with evidence.