Family, fellow tow truck drivers remember Curtis Martin

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - A cross now sits as a memorial right by the spot where just a day earlier, Curtis Martin died after he was run over by someone behind the steering wheel of his own tow truck.

“It was his second home and he was doing what he loved," says his daughter Alexus Martin. "He died doing what he loved.” 

Martin had twelve children and worked as a tow truck driver.

“My dad is a very hard-working man," says his daughter Aliyah Martin. "He goes to work. He used to call us letting us know he was struggling, but he always made a way to provide for us or any of my other siblings.”

While out working on Friday afternoon, Martin's truck was stolen. Police say the suspect, Jonathan Nguyen, 27, drove in his truck down Beechnut Street and Martin was able to catch up to him and confront him at the Kirkwood Road intersection. That’s when authorities say Nguyen drove the tow truck over Martin. He was taken to a hospital where he later died.

A chase then took place through much of southwest Houston and ended when the tow truck was struck by another truck in the intersection of State Highway 90 and Brooks in Sugar Land.

Martin’s daughter Alexus says that just before he passed, he sent her an emotional text message.

“Something was telling me in my gut to call him and I feel like, if I would have called him, this would not have happened and I can still remember the message which he sent to me and he was like, 'When life gets hard and you are struggling, I just want to prove to y’all, don’t give up,' that’s basically what he was saying to me," describes Alexus. "He was basically saying, don’t give up. Life goin' come with struggles and you can only change it and make it better.”

Nguyen has been charged with capital murder.