COLUMBUS, Ohio — A family is mourning the loss of a 21-year-old man who was fatally shot at a west Columbus gas station this week and was months away from becoming a father.
Andrew Combs and his pregnant girlfriend, Victoria Perez, just finished Christmas shopping when they stopped at the Sunoco gas station at 2725 West Broad Street just before midnight on Tuesday. Combs went inside while Perez waited in the car.
An attempted robbery unfolded and Combs was shot. He died about an hour later at Grant Medical Center.
"The last thing I saw was him coming out with his vape and they shot him at least four times. I got out of the car and the suspects started running," said Perez, who is expecting a baby boy in May 2023.
"I held his hand. He kept saying 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die.' I just kept screaming 'I need help,'" Perez said.
One of the suspects identified and charged in the shooting is David Johnson III, according to Franklin County Municipal Court records.
Johnson was mistakenly let out of the Jackson Pike Franklin County Correction Center last month due to a "human error," according to a Franklin County judge.
Court documents say 18-year-old Caiden Allen was also charged in the shooting. Both Allen and Johnson have warrants for their arrests. A third suspect has not been identified.
Perez said Combs was a good man and he was taken too soon.
"He just showed me the love I've never had from any man. He loved our baby so much," Perez said.
Perez said they were going to name their baby Kyzor, but now she will name him after his father.
"His name is going to be Andrew Kyzor David Lee Combs," Perez said.
Perez and community members held a vigil for Combs at the gas station Friday evening.
Anyone who has information on Johnson or Allen's whereabouts is asked to contact Columbus police.