Williams took office in January as youngest mayor in city history
The Stockbridge, Georgia, city council voted over the weekend to remove Jayden Williams, 23, from office after an hours-long hearing that examined allegations of inappropriate communications with an 18-year-old high school student, improper purchases on a municipal government-issued credit card, and mistreatment of city employees.
Williams took office in January after defeating incumbent Anthony Ford in an election two months earlier, becoming the youngest mayor in Stockbridge’s history, according to local reporting cited by the Guardian. He is the second young U.S. mayor in recent years to face removal or criminal proceedings.
According to local news outlets, an investigation preceding his removal examined his communications with the 18-year-old. Williams at one point reportedly offered the teenager a city-backed internship and mentorship while also asking if they could be “friends with benefits,” a term implying a casual rather than a committed sexual relationship, the outlet reported. He reportedly added, “This better stay between us too,” according to the outlet.
The communications began shortly after Williams’s election victory and were carried out on his personal phone, Atlanta News First reported. They included sexually suggestive messages and explicit photographs.
During the council hearing, lawyer Robbie Ashe, who was representing Stockbridge investigators, asked Williams: “Is getting nude photographs via text message so unremarkable to you that you don’t remember when you get them?” NBC reported. Williams replied, “It’s not memorable nor is it abnormal for somebody my age. That’s not abnormal for somebody my age.”
The hearing also examined Williams’s use of a city-issued credit card. Atlanta News First reported that the purchases in question included $35.79 for movie tickets, $63.83 at a Polo Factory store, and $322.92 at Pandora. Williams said his use of the city card was accidental because the cards are the same color and resemble one another. “Nobody said anything to me at the time,” he said, according to Atlanta News First, adding that he had reimbursed the city.
Investigators also alleged that Williams created a hostile work environment. According to Atlanta News First, the allegations included changing the locks on his office and requiring staff to slide documents underneath the door, as well as shouting at staff members and allegedly threatening an interim city clerk that she would never be permanently appointed. Williams denied ordering the locks to be changed and said keys often jammed in them, the outlet reported.
In a statement, Stockbridge officials said: “The city … has taken formal action concerning the office of mayor following proceedings conducted pursuant to applicable city processes. As a result of that action, the mayor has been removed from office.”
After the hearing, Williams’s attorney, Robert Kenner, said the council’s removal of his client “was very disappointing”, NBC reported, and said: “I don’t believe that it was based on any evidence.”
Interim Mayor Elton Alexander said the removal followed the findings of an independent investigator, Richard Hyde. “Removing Stockbridge mayor Jayden William from office was a tough decision,” Alexander said. “It brings a fair and equitable close to multiple troubling accusations that were investigated and verified by [Hyde]. The results of the investigation demanded we act.”
Williams is not the only young mayor to have faced legal or political trouble. Tyrin Truong was elected mayor of Bogalusa, Louisiana, in 2022 at age 23 and was arrested in January 2025 in connection with a drug-trafficking investigation, the Guardian reported. He has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including malfeasance and theft, and in January 2026 announced a re-election bid.