Columbus police are investigating the shooting death of 31-year-old James Pettigrew Jr., which occurred in late January, and have released images of four persons of interest they wish to question, but have made no arrests to date. The case is one of 59 shootings investigated by the Columbus Police Department so far this year, according to recent crime data.
Pettigrew was found shot and killed along South Richardson, leaving behind his mother, Jacqueline Saulsbery, and other family members. “I didn’t want to believe it. I did not want to believe it. I didn’t want to accept it,” Saulsbery told WSYX. “And I felt like I was in a daze.”
Authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward. Saulsbery pleaded for assistance, stating, “Just come forth…So then that way I don’t have to question what happened. What did he do to you to make you shoot him down like a dog in the snow? That’s deep. That’s heartless.” She expressed her hope that identifying those responsible would prevent similar tragedies for other families, saying, “I just want them to come forward. That way, this doesn’t happen to another mother, because evidently they don’t have a problem about killing nobody.”
According to an obituary published by Marlan J. Gary Funeral Home, Pettigrew was born November 3, 1994, and died January 27, 2026. He is survived by his parents, Jacqueline Saulsbery and James Pettigrew Sr., his sons, Christopher Johnson and Chase Johnson, his grandmother Eunice Daniels, and sisters Martina Gibbs Dowdy and Jazmen Pettigrew.
While Columbus has recorded only six homicides as of this week—a figure the city hasn’t seen in years—each case represents a significant loss for the affected families. Saulsbery described her son as a man who, despite a playful nature, possessed a serious outlook on life, calling him someone with “an old soul.”
Columbus police and family members are requesting that anyone with information regarding James Pettigrew Jr.’s death contact the Columbus Police Department or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers.
