JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The friends and family of 37-year-old Shad Cole, one of three victims who were stabbed and killed on Jacksonville’s Westside late last month, gathered on Sunday to celebrate his life at Party Place in Mandarin.
Rather than everybody feeling down, one of Cole’s cousins, Jonathan Kinney, says they’re choosing to celebrate Cole the way he would’ve wanted.
“Got the pool, got the barbecue grill going, you know, just having a good time and hanging out,” Kinney said.
At the gathering were dozens of Cole’s loved ones, a pastor, several inflatable pools, a playground, drinks, an Italian ice and lemonade stand, barbecue on the grill and enough laughs to make anyone feel like family.
“We’re blessed and fortunate for the time we had with him,” Kinney said. “We’ll never forget that, never forget the memories we made with him.”
Kinney describes Cole as honest, loyal and someone he and his brother looked up to, especially when they were kids.
“We wanted to walk like him, talk like him, we wanted to be just like him,” Kinney said. “He had that impact on us.”
Kinney says that on the night of Cole’s death, they found something in Cole’s back pocket that brought the entire family some comfort.
“We found the Lord’s Prayer in his wallet, so that brings peace to me and to my family and my brothers that he was making that move towards Christ,” Kinney said. “I know deep down in my soul that he gave his life to the Lord, and I know when my time comes, I’ll see him again, and we’ll have plenty of boat days when that day comes.”
It was exactly one month ago today that the triple stabbing took place. Also stabbed and killed that night was who his family describes as the love of his life, 27-year-old Savannah Barber, and her father, 49-year-old Edwin Barber.
Savannah and Cole leave behind two kids — both just 13 years old.
Austin Fisher, the man accused of the stabbings, pleaded guilty to all three counts of second-degree murder and one count of armed robbery on Wednesday.
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