In the summer of 2022, a young African American man named Roderick Felton, who was either 19 or 21 years old, lost his life in a violent exchange in Macon, Georgia. On the evening of June 6th, Felton was at the Friends Food Mart on Houston Avenue, a location that had unfortunately become known for violence, as another fatal shooting had occurred there just a month prior.
That night, his path crossed with 19-year-old Braxton Cole, leading to a confrontation that would end in tragedy for both.
According to the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, the incident began in the parking lot when Cole approached Felton and then followed him inside the convenience store. An argument erupted between the two men, escalating quickly and violently. Cole drew a firearm and shot at Felton. In response, Felton produced his own gun and returned fire. The exchange of bullets proved fatal for both, and a 23-year-old bystander, DeRoderick Collins, was also struck and hospitalized in stable condition.
The investigation into the double homicide revealed that the encounter was not a random act of violence but the result of a personal dispute between Felton and Cole. Because both men died in the shootout, no arrests were made in connection with their deaths. In a sad twist of irony, both Felton and Cole had been participants in a local program called 'Street to Success,' an initiative designed to guide young people away from the very violence that claimed their lives. The incident left the community mourning the loss of two young men and grappling with the persistent issue of gun violence. Following the shooting, the Friends Food Mart was temporarily shut down by court order, deemed a public nuisance due to the repeated serious criminal activity at the location.
