Soldier from Auburn killed in Afghanistan

AUBURN, Ind. (WANE) - A soldier from Auburn was killed in Afghanistan. Family members of Sgt. JaBraun Knox said they received word that he died Friday afternoon.

His parents and wife, Courtney, are now at Dover Air Force Base. Knox also had a 6-month-old son.

His family said he was just home in April for two weeks on leave.

Knox was a 2007 graduate of DeKalb High School where he played football and baseball. On the football team, Knox played both kicker and quarterback.

"He always had a great personality, very friendly. He liked to kid around and joke around but, on the same token, he could be serious when it was time to be serious and be competitive and work hard in practice and games," Jim Hummer, who was Knox's football coach at DeKalb, said. "He was a fun person to be around and that rubbed off on his peers too." 

Hummer said he was impressed by Knox's maturity and kindness at such a young age. Knox had gone to the athletic director to see if the school could help him apply Hummer's family for a TV show that does home makeovers because Hummer has a daughter who is in a wheelchair.

"I didn't pan out, but just for him to have that conversation touched my heart because a lot of 16 and 17-year-old kids only think about themselves. For him to think about me and my family in that way was a pretty special thought," Hummer said.

He was stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington. Knox had been to Iraq once and this was his first deployment to Afghanistan.