Furious Texas officials have offered a reward for information about the suspect who murdered a war veteran outside his nursing home.
Nelson Beckett, 90, a U.S. Navy veteran, was shot and killed Saturday by an unknown carjacker outside the Lonestar Senior Living Apartments in Houston.
He was in his car when the man approached him, attacked him and shot him, according to Fox News. The perpetrator then stole Beckett’s belongings and his vehicle, before running him over with it.
Beckett’s car was later found abandoned at an apartment complex on Dunlap Street, about three miles away. According to ABC13, the 90-year-old man was taken to the hospital, where he died.
As the search for the thief continues, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that anyone with information that could bring him to justice will receive $10,000.
Ninety-year-old veteran Nelson Beckett was shot and run over with his own car during a violent carjacking outside his retirement home
The great-grandfather was killed around noon Saturday by an unknown gunman near the Lone Star Living complex in Houston, police said.
“Cecilia and I are deeply saddened to learn of the murder of 90-year-old Navy veteran Nelson Beckett in Houston,” the governor said. told Click 2 Houston. “Our condolences go out to his family and loved ones, and to the entire Houston community during this difficult time.”
He added that the state is “already working with our local partners and providing full support to bring this criminal to justice.
“Texas will always stand with the brave men and women who answered the call to serve in our nation’s military. With the public’s help, we will catch the killer and put him behind bars.”
Crime Stoppers of Houston is also offering a $5,000 reward to anyone with information about the suspect, bringing the total reward to $15,000 for anyone who can help police track down the suspect.
He is described as a black male between 25 and 30 years old, according to Fox News.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced Monday that anyone with information that can bring the killer to justice will receive $10,000
Meanwhile, family and friends remember the veteran as a kind and funny man.
He spent much of his retirement helping others, including driving people without cars to doctor’s appointments and to church services on Sundays.
Beckett even offered his home as a shelter, taking guests to beg and driving them to church, where he even baptized some of them.
“He loved his family and his family very much,” his daughter, Tami Freund, told Fox News. “To him, everyone was valuable and he would do anything for anyone.”
He also enjoyed meeting new people and often greeted them with a joke or by handing them his business card that read “my card,” Freund said.
“Nelson was kind of a comedian,” said Steve Sandifer, a friend of Beckett’s for 47 years, added to Click 2 Houston.
“He always had a funny story. And so when he started talking about, well, ‘there was this guy…’ you knew it was a story, not a true story. And eventually you got to the point.
“But he was a very loving man, a very caring man. He was just a good, faithful Christian. He loved Jesus. He loved his church.”
Beckett was serving in the Navy when the U.S. tested atomic bombs, his friend said
Beckett is survived by five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren
Sandifer also told a story about Beckett’s time in the Navy.
“He was in the Navy when they were testing the atomic bombs. He was on a ship when the Bikini Atoll bomb was detonated,” he said.
‘He said that all the boys had gone onto the deck of the ship and that they had to turn their backs to the island.
“Apparently they were human guinea pigs to see what would happen,” Sandifer said.
“He remembered the light being very, very bright. And it was like some of the X-rays you see in cartoons, where the light was just immense.”
Beckett grew up in Oklahoma City, where he married his wife of 55 years.
In the early 1960s, the two moved to Houston with their two children.
When Beckett died, he had five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, with another on the way.