Outraged Texas stumps up $10k reward for info in murder of military vet killed outside retirement home

Outraged Texas officials have stumped up the reward for any information about the suspect who killed a military veteran outside his retirement home.

Nelson Beckett, 90, a US Navy veteran, was shot and killed by an unidentified carjacker outside the Lonestar Senior Living Apartments in Houston on Saturday.

He was sitting in his car when the man approached him, assaulted him and shot him, according to Fox News. The perpetrator then stole Beckett's belongings and his vehicle before mowing him down with it.  

Beckett's car was later found abandoned at an apartment complex on Dunlap Street, around three miles away. The 90-year-old was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to ABC13.

As the search continues for the thief, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Monday that anyone with information who could bring him to justice will receive $10,000.

'Cecilia and I are deeply saddened to hear of the murder of 90-year-old Navy vet Nelson Beckett in Houston,' the governor told Click 2 Houston. 'Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones, and the entire Houston community during this difficult time.'

He added that the state 'is already working with our local partners and providing full support in bringing this criminal to justice.

'Texas will always support the brave men and women who answered the call to serve in our nation's military, and with the public's help, we will capture the murderer and put them behind bars.'

Crime Stoppers of Houston is also offering those with information about the suspect a $5,000 reward - bringing the total reward money up to $15,000 for anyone who could help police track down the suspect. 

He has been described as a black man aged between 25 and 30, per Fox News.

In the meantime, family and friends are remembering the veteran as a kind and funny man.  

He spent much of his retirement helping others, including by driving people without cars to doctor's appointments and Sunday church service. 

Beckett even offered his home as a halfway house, taking lodgers to panhandle and driving them to church where he even baptized some of them. 

'He loved big and loved his family so much,' his daughter, Tami Freund told Fox News. 'To him, everyone had value, and he would do anything for anyone.' 

He also loved meeting new people and often greeted them with jokes or by handing out his business card which read 'my card,' Freund said.

'Nelson was a comedian of sorts,' 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 man..." you knew it was a story, not a true thing. And you'd get around to the point eventually.

'But he was a very loving man, a very caring man. He was just a good, faithful Christian man. He loved Jesus. He loved his church.' 

Sandifer also shared a story about Beckett's time in the Navy.

'He was in the Navy when they were doing the atomic bomb tests that went on. He was on a ship when the Bikini Atoll bomb was detonated,' he said.

'He talked about all the guys getting on the deck of the ship, and they told them to turn their back to the island. 

'Evidently, they were human guinea pigs to see what was going to happen,' Sandifer said.

'He remembered the light was very, very bright. And it was like, some of the x-rays you'd see in the cartoons where the light was just immense.'

Beckett grew up in Oklahoma City, where he married his wife of 55 years.

The two then moved to Houston in the early 1960s with their two children.

At the time of his death, Beckett had five grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren with another on the way.