Aaliyah S. Chan

Aaliyah S. Chan, an 18-year-old recent high school graduate with a bright future, was known to her family as “Boo Boo,” an outspoken and fun-loving teenager with a laugh her father said you could hear a mile away. Aaliyah had just graduated from Briggs High School, where she had been the head cheerleader. She was kind, funny, and fiercely devoted to her family. She dreamed of a career in cosmetology and was already practicing by doing eyelashes for people she knew, with hopes of one day starting a mobile beauty business with her sister. Her family remembers her as someone who was always smiling and taking care of everybody.

The evening of Friday, October 30, 2026, found Aaliyah on the city’s Southwest Side. She was with her boyfriend, who was getting a haircut inside an apartment in the 1000 block of Hardesty Place West in the Briggsdale neighborhood. According to her father, Aaliyah was an innocent bystander to the violence that erupted. Around 7:45 p.m., a shooting broke out, which Columbus police detectives later said they believed stemmed from an attempted robbery.

When officers from the Columbus Division of Police arrived at the apartment, they found one person who had been shot. This victim told police that another person was also shot and was in the basement. In the basement, authorities found Aaliyah Chan suffering from a gunshot wound. Medics pronounced her dead at the scene at 7:56 p.m. The first victim was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. A third adult victim, also wounded in the shooting, took themselves to a hospital and was later treated and released.

The investigation into the triple shooting was handled by the Columbus Police Homicide Unit. Within days, detectives identified a suspect. On November 5, 2026, police announced they had issued a warrant for the arrest of 16-year-old Jaycier C. Armstrong. He was charged with murder, aggravated robbery, and felonious assault in connection with Aaliyah's death and the injuries to the other two victims. Police released his photograph and asked for the public’s help in finding him.

In the wake of their devastating loss, Aaliyah’s family shared their grief and their traditions. Following their Cambodian Buddhist faith, they lit a candle in Aaliyah’s favorite room, keeping it burning for seven days and offering her favorite foods—like hot chicken, macaroni and cheese, and Hot Cheetos—to guide her on her journey. Her father, Paul Chan, made a public plea for the suspect to surrender. "No parent should have to bury their children," he said. "You brave enough to pull the trigger. You brave enough to victimize three families, be brave enough to end this dramatic event. Turn yourself in." Aaliyah's aunt, Susan Chhay, added, "Our family needs justice. Our family needs healing."

A GoFundMe campaign was established by Aaliyah's aunt to help with funeral and burial expenses. A funeral service was held on Saturday, November 14, 2026, at the Newcomer Funeral Home in Powell, Ohio. As of early November 2026, the suspect, Jaycier Armstrong, was still at large, and the Columbus Police Homicide Unit was continuing its investigation. Anyone with information on Armstrong's whereabouts or about the shooting is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (614) 645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-8477.