Shooting victim remembered as devoted father, hard worker

Felton Tate, 44, was a hard worker and a devoted father, his brother said. He was quiet but friendly, and he was no slouch at basketball.

Tate died in surgery late Wednesday night after being shot multiple times in the torso while standing outside his Lee Road 39 house. He was taken by helicopter to The Medical Center in Columbus, where he died at 12:04 a.m., Lee County Coroner Bill Harris said.

Tate grew up in the Beauregard area and went to Beauregard High School, his brother Ricky Tate, 49, said. Felton Tate lived with his wife and three children and worked as a manager at Flowers Baking Company in Opelika.

“He worked all the time,” Ricky Tate said. “He just took care of his kids.”

Felton was a good father and a close brother, Ricky Tate said.

“All my sisters and brothers are close - we were raised like that,” he said. “There was nine of us. Now there’s eight.”

The family still does a lot together, he said.

“We did a lot of cookouts,” Ricky Tate said. “In our younger days, we played a lot of basketball together. He was real friendly. He got along with everybody.”

Ricky said the family asked for prayers and for anyone who knew anything about the shooting to tell the sheriff’s office. Catching the shooter would help him cope with his brother’s death, he said.

“If there’s anybody who knows who did it, come forward and let police know because it was wrong taking a life at his own home,” he said. “We need prayers, and we need to catch the person who did it.”

Tate’s body was taken to Montgomery for an autopsy by the Alabama Department of Forensic Science, Harris said.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case as a homicide, Chief Investigator Capt. Van Jackson said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Lee County Crime Stoppers at 888-522-7847. All callers can remain anonymous.

Beverly Harvey contributed to this article.