COLUMBUS, Ohio — The impact of gun violence in Columbus is now being felt more than 8,000 miles away.
In India, the mother of 24-year-old Saiesh Veera is preparing to say goodbye to her son now that his body has arrived home.
Veera moved to the United States to pursue more opportunities in education. He built a community on the cricket field in Dublin, where he became a positive force for his teammates, the league and everyone he called a friend.
While working at a gas station in Franklinton on April 20, Veera was shot and killed. He was a masters student set to graduate this weekend and was about to quit his job at the gas station.
Now, two people have been arrested and charged with his death.
One day after his death, a 25 year-old was shot and killed in an unrelated incident near the campus of The Ohio State University.
Deijon Bedgood worked at a local taproom, and was loved by his co-workers, customers and friends. He grew up more than 100 miles away from Columbus in Belpre, Ohio where his basketball coach said he was a star athlete.
The two unrelated shooting deaths in Columbus show the far-reaching impact gun violence in Columbus is having on communities here, across the state, and now, around the world.
“It’s very hard for anyone to even digest the fact that he is gone,” said Venkat Nerusu, a longtime friend of Saiesh Veer.
Nerusu said he was always aware that gun violence was an issue, but now he knows the pain and the toll it can take and he wishes that weren’t the case.
“I would think no one would ever travel across seven seas to come over here and die,” he said. “He doesn’t deserve to be dead.”