Family Pleads for Leads in Brutal Fallbrook Homicide

For the first time, Hugh Pettigrew's family is sharing their story about his death

A brutal homicide has a North County family and San Diego County Sheriff's investigators in desperate need of your help to find the killers.

For the first time since Hugh Pettigrew's death, his family is sharing their story.

"One minute I'm angry and the next I'm just sad,” cried Cameo Jordan, Hugh Pettigrew’s cousin. “I just want him back, and I know I can never see him again."

Jordan's heartbreak is rooted in the murder of her younger cousin Hugh-- nicknamed Garfield.

Sheriff's investigators say the 33-year-old man was walking home along the 400 block of Ammunition Road in Fallbrook on Jan. 22 when he was stabbed multiple times.

Investigators say the wounded man was able to stumble to his nearby home where he collapsed.

“It’s disheartening. Oh! It’s callous. There’s no words for what they did," said Jordan.

Surveillance video from nearby businesses show three men--believed to be in their late teens or early twenties-- wanted in connection with Pettigrew's murder.

They're seen exiting a red, 1997 Honda Civic, driven by a woman who parked in an Albertson's parking lot.

Homicide detectives say the trio of men headed to the side of the grocery store toward the area where Pettigrew was stabbed around 10:45 p.m. Pettigrew died from his injuries nearly three weeks after the attack.

Surveillance video of the people of interest was just released this week.

“We still believe that if folks saw something out there and they thought it was just a fight, now if they know that it was actually a homicide, the seriousness of the case may convince them to come forward and give us any information they have," explained Lt. Kenneth Nelson of San Diego County Sheriff’s Department’s homicide division.

Detectives are still searching for a motive, though they don't believe it was a robbery.

Cameo and her family are desperate for closure.

“They took my cousin from me and I’ll never be able to give him back,” she cried. "I don’t think it’s fair they get to walk around the streets doing what they did. They need to be caught."

Cameo said ever since she can remember, Hugh has been a part of her life.

She'll remember her cousin for his laid-back personality and love for food -- just like the cat Garfield whom he was nicknamed after.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with the March 5 funeral at Eternal Hills in Oceanside. The family says left over funds will be used to help victims of violence programs.

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