WISNER, La. – A 14-year-old who spent summers in Vidalia was killed in a hunting accident near Wisner Thursday morning – just one day before he was to serve as Wisner High’s homecoming king.

Nathan Lamar Smedley of Jigger was squirrel hunting with two friends before 10 a.m. when he was shot in the back of the head with a 12-gauge shotgun, according to his aunt, Pam Dean of Jena, and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

Although Smedley lived in Jigger with his mother and stepfather, Cindy and Butch Kenney, he spent summers in Vidalia with his father, Raymond Smedley, and grandmother, Marion Smedley, Dean said.

Wisner High’s homecoming game, scheduled for Friday night, was canceled. Nathan was a football player and ROTC cadet at the school.

Nathan’s funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Apostolic Faith Chapel Church in Gilbert. Burial will be in Greenlawn Cemetery in Natchez. Further obituary information is on Page 6A.