This browser does not support the Video element.
Slain HPD officer’s son signs letter of intent
FOX 26's Randy Wallace has more as the son of a Houston Police Department officer, who died in 2015, signed his letter of intent with police officers and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in attendance supporting him.
HOUSTON - "It’s emotional, it’s heartbreaking to do this without my father," said high school senior Tyler Martin.
The teenager was just 11-years-old when his father HPD officer Richard Martin was killed in the line of duty.
"Let me remind you, Richard was killed trying to stop and apprehend a violent felony suspect," said Charles McClelland.
SIGN UP FOR FOX 26 HOUSTON EMAIL ALERTS
McClelland was Houston’s Police Chief on that fateful day May 18, 2015.
"Richard Martin was a hero," he said. "When I talked to the Martin family and I walked in, I could see Tyler clutching something but I didn’t know what it was. As he was sobbing and I was talking with him, he told me I like to play baseball and now I don’t have anybody to play baseball with. I said yes you do, you have over 5,300 police officers to play baseball with."
Shortly after losing his father, Tyler got an unlikely friend for life in Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick.
"Tyler was the one I noticed instantly when I walked in the kitchen," he said. "I don’t know if he was 10 or 11 but I could see his heart breaking and he had printed out a badge with his dad’s number on it and he was handing it out to people so they wouldn’t forget him."
FOR THE LATEST NEWS UPDATES, DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 NEWS APP
Dozens of Houston Police officers watched as Tyler Martin signed his letter of intent to the University of Mary Hardin Baylor.
That University is gaining an exceptional baseball player.
"I’m excited. I’m ready we’re going to show the world what we got," Tyler Martin said.