Shooting victim dies 1 week after downtown Augusta incident
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A 61-year-old man died on Saturday, just one week after he was shot in downtown Augusta.
Tracy Waddell, 61, of Edgefield, died at 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon, according to his family.
“Mom and I stayed with him until his last moment, and I know he’s at peace,” said his daughter, Brianna.
Waddell was an organ donor, and April is Donate Life Month.
Waddell’s daughter, Brianna, and her fiancé, Jacob, had spent much of the past week by his side in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.
“The last words he said to my mom before he walked out of home was, ‘I love you and Bree,’” she said. “He said that basically every time he left.”
But when he didn’t come home, she started to worry.
“I was trying not to freak out, and I saw a headline ... that said a 61-year-old Edgefield man had been shot in the head,” she said.
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“You prepare yourself for things, but you can’t prepare yourself for everything, and this is hard.”
Deputies found Waddell shot in the head early April 19 just as the bars were closing downtown.
PHOTO GALLERY: TRACY WADDELL
Authorities have arrested 28-year-old Da’mon Cole and 27-year-old Destiny Reeves.
Investigators believe the pair planned to rob Waddell.
Authorities say a preliminary investigation found Reeves approached Waddell and led him to a nearby parked vehicle where Cole was hiding. Cole emerged and shot him, investigators believe.
Waddell’s daughter says she’s thankful to deputies for being proactive, which led to the immediate arrest of the suspects, who are charged with aggravated assault, criminal attempted armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Additionally, Cole is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
But that doesn’t help the pain.
“The hurt I feel is deep, the anger is deep, and I can’t lie about it,” she said. “There is a lot of anger there.”
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And it all happened after a cancer diagnosis led him to live life to the fullest.
She’s angry because her father won’t see her graduate college in a few weeks. She’s angry he won’t be able to walk her down the aisle this summer. And she’s angry that violence, not a disease, threatens to cut her father’s life short.
“He loves people. He would give the shirt off his back,” she said.
“Above all else, he didn’t deserve this.”
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