Benjamin Addison, inset, was shot and killed around 2 a.m. March 30, 2024, in Cincinnati, Ohio, while confronting suspects who had broken into his car, according to his family. (Addison: GoFundMe; Screenshot: WCPO)
Cops in Ohio, are searching for two suspects who allegedly shot and killed a 21-year-old college student who interrupted a car theft.
Cincinnati police were called around 2:15 a.m. for a shooting in the 2000 block of Highland Avenue, not far from downtown. When they arrived they found a man, later identified as Benjamin Addison, suffering from a gunshot wound. The Cincinnati Fire Department responded and pronounced Addison dead.
Cops haven’t released any additional information and have yet to make any arrests but Addison’s parents have spoken to a couple local TV stations. According to his parents, Addison and some friends were out for a night of fun when he realized he may have left the car’s headlights on so they went to check it out. When he arrived, he saw two people inside the car. He reportedly confronted one of the men and the other got out of the car and shot him.
“This is a nightmare,” Yeshi Leggesse, Addison’s mother, told NBC affiliate WLWT. “I kept thinking, any minute I’m just going to wake up and think, this is a horrible dream.”
Addison’s friends reportedly said they heard him ask what the suspects were doing. The suspects ran away after the shooting.
Police came to the parents’ home on Saturday morning to notify them of the death.
“I said, ‘Is he hurt?’ and she said he’s gone,” Leggesse told the outlet. “I just, I lost it.”
Addison was headed into his last year at the University of Cincinnati, his father said. Now instead of planning for a graduation, they are planning a funeral. It’s important to his parents that cops arrest the people responsible for his death.
“It’s not going to bring Benjamin back,” Joe Addison said. “We understand that we have to live the rest of our lives without our son. What we’re hoping is that this person gets caught so that he doesn’t do it to somebody else.”
Anyone with information about this homicide is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 513-352-3542.
Addison’s cousin started a GoFundMe to pay for funeral expenses.
“Benjamin had his entire life ahead of him but his beautiful life was cut short by a cowardly act by a monster,” his cousin wrote.
