An unidentified assailant shot and killed a 90-year-old Navy veteran in front of his apartment complex in Houston on Saturday.
After the attack, the assailant stole the man’s vehicle and ran over him before fleeing the scene.
The perpetrator remains at large, although the stolen vehicle was found abandoned at another apartment complex miles away. Authorities are currently conducting a search for the killer.
The tragic incident took place during the early afternoon at the Lonestar Senior Living Apartments, where Nelson Beckett, a Navy veteran and former salesman, had been residing for several years.
KPRC2 News reported that services at Beckett’s church on Sunday were somber as friends and family mourned upon learning of his untimely death.
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According to KPRC2, Steve Sandifer, a friend of Beckett for 47 years, says the manner of death is what was most disturbing.
“I told his daughter, I said, you know, had she called me that morning and said dad didn’t wake up this morning, I would have said, good. He’s lived his 90 years. He’s been a champion of faith and everything else. He’s lived a great life. But to hear that he had been murdered, that was just beyond me,” Sandifer told KPRC 2 Reporter Corley Peel.
Sandifer characterized the Navy veteran as an innate caregiver, providing transportation to neighbors for medical appointments and offering rides to church. Beckett, a widower, had been married to his wife for 69 years before her passing.
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ABC 13 reports that, in the preliminary inquiry, authorities have stated that the perpetrator, estimated to be aged between 25 and 35, operated independently.
Upon analyzing the surveillance footage, law enforcement revealed that a young man approached Beckett around 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
It appeared that the victim and suspect engaged in conversation before the suspect initiated an attack on the 90-year-old. Subsequently, the assailant reportedly shot Beckett and fled the scene after driving over him in the victim’s car.
Fox 26 Houston published the following statement from Beckett’s daughter, Tami Freund:
He served in the Navy, not during an active war. He was the kindest, funniest man you’d ever meet. He loved meeting people and greeted them all with jokes and his famous business card, which said “my card.” He loved to make someone laugh and brighten their day. To him, everyone had value. He spent his days driving people to places who did not have a car. Driving them to doctors’ appointments, FEMA, rehab, stores, etc., wherever they needed to go. He even would drive some friends from a halfway house to panhandle and take them to church on Sundays. He even baptized several of them. He would do anything for anyone. He told me (his daughter) all the time how lucky we are to have such a big, wonderful, loving, Christian family. He loved big and loved his family so much!
Police have yet to announce any leads in the investigation and are asking anyone with information to contact Houston Police Department’s homicide unit at 713-308-3600.
