Family seeks help to solve homicide

Jacqueline Santiago said she did everything she could do to guide her children and lead them along the right path.

She said she saw the news about homicides throughout Columbus, but she never believed it would happen to her.

And then it did.

Around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Columbus police were called to Santiago's home on the 2900 block of Indianola Avenue in Clintonville. There, officers found her 25-year-old son, Andrew Santiago, shot on the back porch. He died from his injuries, becoming the city's first homicide victim in 2022.

“He's very loved and there's a lot of people whose hearts are broken,” Santiago said Thursday afternoon at a press conference outside her home.

Andrew Santiago leaves behind an 8year-old daughter who now has to grow up without her father.

Columbus police Det. Anthony Johnson, the lead homicide investigator on the case, said detectives are asking anyone in the area who has security cameras to look for movement or noise between 12:19 a.m. and about 12:40 a.m. Tuesday.

“A lot of people may not know they're witnesses,” Johnson said.

The motive for the shooting remains uncertain, but Johnson said it is believed Andrew Santiago was in an altercation with at least one other person prior to between five and eight shots being fired.

Detectives have received some information about a possible midsize gray vehicle in which a suspect fled from the area.

Johnson said the community needs to come forward with information to help detectives solve not only Santiago's case, but also other homicide cases.

“We're not out there to put anybody in harm's way,” Johnson said. “We know that threats in the community are real, but if we don't know what's going on, we can't protect them either.”

Santiago pleaded for anyone who knew her son or has information about his killing to come forward to detectives.

“There could be a day where you're on the opposite end,” she said. “I'm praying for justice ... because then I can be at peace that this person doesn't do this to someone else's child.”

Anyone with information about Santiago's fatal shooting or any other homicide is asked to call detectives at 614645-4730. Information can also be provided to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner