Elyria man shot, killed in LaGrange Twp. was doting father, family says

Christopher "C.J." Sayers' daughter Ava was his life. The 2-year-old child was "everything" to the young father, his second-cousin Chris Carter said Monday. Their world, and the world of the Sayers and Carter families, changed Sunday when C.J. Sayers, 24, was shot and killed during an incident on Whitehead Road in LaGrange Township. The shooting currently is under investigation by the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, but appears to have taken place while Sayers was involved in a child custody exchange with his daughter's mother. The man suspected of shooting him was initially taken into custody but has not been charged with any crimes related to the shooting, authorities said. Carter, whose first cousin is Sayers' father and who is serving as a spokesperson for the grieving family, said Monday that the world turned "in a good, positive way, upside down" when C.J. was born. The son of Chris and Patty Sayers and brother to Alyssa Sayers and Sierra Goldsmith, C.J. had "a bit of a rough patch" of not listening to his parents and hanging out with the wrong crowd while growing up "like most teens do," his second-cousin said. But he turned his life around and eventually became a hard-working, doting father who took his daughter to the Lorain County Fair, to an alpaca farm, and was caught in photos tossing her in the air or taking her swimming or trick-or-treating. He was a laborer by trade and worked two jobs. C.J. Sayers also had a laugh and a smile that could defuse the tension in any room, Carter said. When someone was hurting, all C.J. had to do was smile. "His smile and his laugh is what he'd be known for. It was very contagious," Carter said. That, Carter said, is what is so painful about what he called "the senseless act of violence that snuffed him out just like that." "That's the part that's so hard for me to really grasp," Carter said. "He struggled hard growing up with his own doings, then finally grabs life and goes full-tilt forward" only to be shot and killed. "Now his little girl is going to grow up without a father." Visiting hours and funeral arrangements are pending, Carter said. Friends have set up a GoFundMe account to help the family with funeral costs, with any money left over going toward his daughter's future needs. The incident The sheriff's office said the shooting was not random, that all those involved were known to each other, and that it appeared to have happened following a child custody exchange between C.J. Sayers and the mother of his child. Deputies responded to 17217 Whitehead Road in LaGrange Township for a report of a shooting just after 8:30 p.m. Sunday. While en route, they learned that 22-year-old Kody Rutledge had apparently shot C.J. Sayers in the stomach. With deputies on the way and an ambulance on standby, Rutledge told dispatchers "that he believe(d) Mr. Sayers had died," the sheriff's office said. Deputies and LaGrange Township Fire Department personnel found C.J. Sayers with a gunshot wound to the chest, but could not revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Detectives and the Lorain County Coroner's Office also responded. Deputies recovered two guns at the scene. The entire incident remains under investigation. Rutledge was taken into custody and booked at the Lorain County Jail on a warrant through another agency shortly before 10:30 p.m. Sunday, according to jail records. He was released from custody just after 11:30 a.m. Monday, those same records showed. He has not been charged in connection with Sayers' death. Sunday's incident was the fourth fatal shooting in Lorain County since the year began. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @daveobrienCT.