DHS grad leaves behind two children
Kajuan Smith was shocked when the phone call came Sunday morning that his friend, rapper Anthony “TC” Cole, was the man that police found shot dead in the 200 block of Meadows Drive in Destrehan.
“I can’t see this happening,” said the Destrehan resident of his friend since seventh grade. “He didn’t bother anybody. He loved to sing. He loved to rap.”
Cole, a St. Charles Parish native, was a rapper pursuing his career in Metairie at the time of his death.
“I don’t really know what really happened because I wasn’t there,” Smith said. “Nobody really knows what happened.”Deputies were called to the scene around 8 a.m. Sunday, said Sheriff Greg Champagne.
Upon arrival, they found a 25-year-old black male lying face down in a driveway. He had apparently been shot in the head.
Cole is a graduate of Destrehan High School, according to his Facebook page.
News of Cole’s death circulated quickly on social media.Smith said family and friends asked for a candlelight vigil in Cole’s memory, which he scheduled at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21 on Meadows Drive.
“A lot of friends are going to be there,” he said. “He was very cool with a lot of people.”
Robert Cole, who set up a Gofundme account to cover his cousin’s burial expenses, called his death senseless.
“Anthony TC Cole tragically lost his life to senseless violence today,” Robert Cole states. “He leaves behind two beautiful daughters and a host of friends and family who are left to see that he receives a proper burial.”
Smith agreed.
“He had a beautiful heart,” he said. “All he did was talk about rapping, singing and his two kids. That’s all he talked about.”
In Sunday’s report, the sheriff said the site of Cole’s death has been problematic for years.
“While homicide is an infrequent crime in St. Charles Parish,” Champagne said, “It is frustrating that Meadows Drive has been the scene of a disproportionate number of them over many years.”
– In August of 2007, the Sheriff’s Office investigated a shooting where three New Sarpy men were shot while driving on Meadows Drive. Witnesses reported the men were part of a 10-vehicle caravan driving recklessly and carrying occupants wearing bandanas, brandishing guns and playing loud music. They also told police that bystanders fled the scene to avoid being struck by the vehicles. Champagne said the caravan entered the drive in an apparent attempt to aggravate certain residents. Deputies cleared the area but the caravan returned soon after, resulting in the three men being shot in a truck.
– A year later, only two weeks after a drive-by shooting on Meadows Drive, then Councilman Billy Raymond talked to residents about ways to improve the area. They told Raymond their lives were increasingly being disrupted by crime, particularly after Hurricane Katrina.
– In October of 2015, the Sheriff’s Office investigated an apparent drive-by shooting where 17-year-old Rashaud Capers was shot once in the head in the 200 block of Meadows Drive. Capers sustained serious injuries, but survived the shooting.
– About four months after Capers shooting, Jackorey Williams, 19, of Destrehan turned himself in to police for allegedly shooting a man on Meadows Drive on New Year’s Day.
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