Brayden Smith, of Las Vegas, was 24 years old when he passed away on February 5th. The family did not disclose the cause of death.
“We are so grateful that Brayden was able to live out his dream on @jeopardy,” said Smith’s mother, Debbie, tweeted Friday morning.
Smith won $ 117,798 on the program, with his last appearance in Alex Trebek’s last week on air. The performances were recorded in October and Trebek died of pancreatic cancer on November 8.
Smith’s six episodes aired Dec. 15 – 18 and Jan. 5-6.
“I’m really grateful for everything, all the opportunities I’ve had,” he said in a video posted on the Jeopardy website. “I’m just glad we got it right, and I’m glad I was able to show what I was capable of.”
According to the obituary his family gave to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Smith was an intern at the Cato Institute in Washington, and he planned to attend a law school to become government attorneys.
“He was a greedy reader and self-taught, a lover of knowledge and a proponent of justice,” reads the obituary.
Smith was a 2020 graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“He was friendly, funny and absolutely brilliant,” the producers of “Jeopardy!” tweeted Friday. “Our deepest condolences to Brayden’s family.”
In the video about his time in the program, Smith said he is looking forward to appearing at a Jeopardy Championship of Champions.
“The Champions Tournament has been my favorite tournament every year since I was a kid,” he said. “These people are from my trivia idols.”