A Franklin County grand jury has indicted four men in connection with the March shooting death of 18-year-old Christopher Cooper-Patton, though two of the accused remain on the run more than four months after the teenager was gunned down on Columbus's southeast side. Jordan Waugh, 25, and Aljurdon Gooch, 26, are already in custody, while Adairius Allison, 21, and Joshauan Harris, 24, are still wanted, according to the Columbus Division of Police.
A Shooting That Turned Fatal Days Later
Officers responded to a report of a shooting in the 1600 block of Elaine Road on March 31 and found Cooper-Patton suffering from a gunshot wound, according to Columbus Division of Police. He was rushed to an area hospital in critical condition. The location sits just south of East Livingston Avenue, in a residential stretch of the city's southeast side, as reported by 10TV WBNS. Cooper-Patton died from his injuries on April 4, days after the shooting.
The grand jury returned indictments on Wednesday against all four men, charging them with aggravated murder, murder, attempted murder, felonious assault, and various weapons offenses, per the police department's announcement. Investigators have not detailed the specific role each defendant is accused of playing, and the motive behind the shooting has not been publicly disclosed.
Two Suspects Still Wanted
With warrants issued for Allison and Harris, police are asking anyone with information on their whereabouts to come forward. 10TV reports that tips can be directed to the CPD Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or submitted anonymously through Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS. Whether the two men remain in the central Ohio region is not known.
Gooch, one of the two men already in custody, was named by law enforcement in early August following a drug bust in Portsmouth, Ohio, where the Southern Ohio Drug Task Force seized fentanyl and crack cocaine, according to Charleston News. It is not clear from available records how that case connects to the Elaine Road indictment.
Case Fits a Broader Pattern in Columbus Violence
Cooper-Patton's age fits a pattern local police have flagged in citywide violent crime data. Columbus Division of Police demographic reporting shows that young adults account for a majority of local violent crime, with over 60 percent of homicide victims and most charged murder suspects under age 30, according to prior Hoodline reporting.
The indictments also arrive during a year in which Columbus homicides have tracked closely with the previous year's pace. The city recorded 50 homicides through late July, matching the same period in 2025 after a summer spike in violence, with July alone bringing 14 homicides — the city's deadliest month of the year, as reported by WSYX ABC 6. That followed a 2025 in which Columbus logged 84 homicides total, its lowest annual count in nearly two decades and a 31 percent drop from 2024, according to Axios. Citywide homicide totals had peaked at 205 in 2021 before falling steadily in the years since.
Despite the summer uptick, Columbus police reported a homicide clearance rate above 80 percent for cases opened in 2026 as of July, even while the department operates hundreds of officers below its authorized strength, per WOSU Public Media. Department leadership has credited its network of Flock Automated License Plate Readers with helping solve roughly 60 percent of the city's homicides in 2025, according to a separate WOSU report, and the city has since launched a public transparency portal detailing use of the camera system.
What Comes Next
If convicted of aggravated murder, the four defendants would face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment under Ohio law, with parole eligibility set after 20, 25, or 30 years, or life without the possibility of parole, per Sections 2903.01 and 2929.02 of the Ohio Revised Code. Court proceedings for Waugh and Gooch are expected to move forward while Allison and Harris remain the subject of an active manhunt. Police have not said whether additional charges or arrests are anticipated as the investigation continues.
