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Great-nephew of Nat King Cole, member of Atlanta cigar community identified as victim of stabbing

By and FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Updated  September 15, 2023 7:53pm EDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 5 Atlanta

Great-nephew of Nat King Cole victim of stabbing

The search continues for a suspect in Thursday’s deadly stabbing in northwest Atlanta. FOX 5 has learned the victim, 31-year old Tracy Cole, is the great nephew of legendary jazz artist Nat King Cole.

ATLANTA - The man who was stabbed around 2 a.m. Thursday in the 300 block of Centennial Olympic Park NE and Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard NW has been identified. 

The man's name is Tracy Cole and he is the great nephew of the legendary jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole and second cousin of Natalie Cole.

The friend also says that Tracy worked part-time at the Fellowship Cigar Lounge in downtown Atlanta and the Cigar City Club in Sandy Springs.

Atlanta Cigar Week posted on Instagram that the cigar community is "deeply saddened by the loss of such a vibrant sole."

Atlanta Police say the Cole was stabbed multiple times. He was transported to a local hospital where he died. 

Homicide detectives are working the case and trying to find out why he was stabbed and by whom.

Who was Tracy Cole?

Cole was born into a legendary musical family. He was the great nephew of renowned jazz artist Nat King Cole and traveled the world with his late grandfather jazz great Freddy Cole.

Cole's friend Octavia Oliver said he was a fixture in the Atlanta cigar community and worked at the Cigar City Club in Sandy Springs.

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Tracy Cole

"Always laughing, always smiling with his corny jokes. Everybody loved him," said Oliver.

The group held a vigil in Cole's honor Thursday night, in remembrance of a friend who touched many lives. 

"He was one of those guys who was always around with positive energy and it was always so good to be around Tracy," friend Henry Stokes said. 

Cole was a long-time member of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta. 

Great nephew of legendary jazz artist stabbed to death

A killer murdered the great nephew of legendary jazz artist Nat King Cole in northwest Atlanta Thursday. Police say 31-year-old Tracy Cole was stabbed multiple times.

Senior Pastor Kevin Murriel said he had a great impact on all who knew and loved him.

"Tracy had that personality that just really transcended culture, it transcended race, it transcended class. Tracy made a friend of everyone.  He was family.  He was more than a young man in the community.  He was that child who walked the floors and aisles of the church. He just brought an abundance of joy everywhere he went."

Police continue to search for a suspect. Anyone with information in the case can contact the Atlanta Police Department.