MACON, Ga. — Friends of 19-year old Braxton Cole are remembering him Wednesday. He was one of the victims killed in that Monday night shooting at the Friends Food Mart.
The Bibb County Sheriff's Office says Cole was the aggressor in that double homicide.
Several friends and family members joined me at the Bloomfield Baptist Church. Their pastor spoke for the family. Braxton's mother, LaTora Cole, says there's no need for her to speak to us on camera.
She says those that knew her son would know the real him.
"I have been to funeral after funeral after funeral,” says Pastor Richard Vaughn.
Vaughn has known the Cole family for decades. He says he was a mentor and teacher to Braxton.
"Every time he came into the room, he was always smiling. He was determined to graduate. He was determined to get his diploma,” he says.
Vaughn said he learned of Cole's death on the news. He said his heart sank.
"He was a son, he was a brother, he was a nephew, and he was a father, so the hole that you take any male out of– any female out of– that's the type of hole that is a gaping hole.”
Vaughn says that it's easy to judge a person after a shooting like the one that killed Braxton.
"One incident does not define who he is as a person. One incident may define how you remember him,” he explains.
Vaughn says their youth dying from gun violence is just as much of his fault as other parents and leaders in the community. He says something must be done.
"The opportunities that are created often pay people high wages to manage the opportunities, but the money does not flow down for the person that needs the opportunity. Why don't we have money that we can say-- we can put this here. This work program, this work program,” he says.
However, he says no one can solve the problem alone.
"It has to be a community effort, and it's going to have to start with parents talking to parents,” he says.
Vaughn says Braxton leaves behind his whole family.
"We have no idea what the potential of that young man was because it was not realized because his life was taken.”
Braxton's mother says there will be a funeral for him as soon as his body is returned from the GBI.
The sheriff's office says Cole drew his gun on Roderick Felton and fired first, but then was hit himself.
His mother says she doesn't believe that and she wants to see the store surveillance video.