HAMILTON, Ohio -- The reward for a Hamilton teen's killer has doubled, Hamilton Police Department said Wednesday.
Christopher "CJ" Bryron Sandle Jr. was shot and killed in his Hamilton home in January, police said. His mother was in another room at the time of the shooting. He was 20 years old.
Hamilton Police initially offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Sandle's killer. His mother pledged $5,000 towards the reward, bringing the reward to $10,000.
On Jan. 13, Hamilton police officers responded to a report of a person shot in the 400 block of Millville Avenue at about 6:15 a.m.
Rachel McCoy, who spent the evening with Sandle's family, said the victim was shot while his mother, Rebecca, was in a nearby room. The family moved to Ohio from Australia, McCoy said.
A 911 call indicates Sandle's mother heard yelling and a gunshot while she was upstairs; when she came downstairs, the gunman pointed a gun at her before fleeing, she said, and she found her son was shot. Sandle succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
Sandle turned 20 years old a few days before his death.
His friends remembered him as someone who was down to earth and tried to stay positive, who liked the beach and sports and loved music.
A next-door neighbor, Quinton Whitson, said Sandle was like a big brother who kept him out of trouble.
"I started crying," Whitson said. "I was walking home and I called my mom, and my mom said, 'I have something sad to tell you,' and I was like 'What?' And I just started bawling walking home with my head down."
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Hamilton Police Investigations Section at 513-868-5811, extension 2002.
