Valdosta State student's death treated as homicide

Police in Valdosta say they're now treating the death of a Valdosta State University student as a homicide.

University officials said campus police responding to a call at the Georgia Hall dormitory on Sunday found 17-year-old Jasmine Benjamin unresponsive. The freshman student was later pronounced dead by the Lowndes County coroner.

Valdosta State officials said in a statement that based on new information from the medical examiner, the case is now "an active criminal investigation."

Valdosta police Cmdr. Brian Childress tells The Valdosta Daily Times that police are treating the case as a homicide.

He said the autopsy raised more questions about the death, but declined to provide details. He said toxicology testing, which involves testing for possible substances in a person's body, has not yet been completed.

Benjamin is from Lawrenceville.

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