An 80-year-old Texas military vet who was beaten into a coma during a dispute over a parking spot has been taken off life support — as his alleged attacker faces more serious charges.
Earl Hollins got into the fatal dispute in the parking lot of a Houston Foodtown supermarket on Friday and was knocked to the ground and slipped into a coma at a local hospital, KTRK-TV News reported.
The following day, he was declared brain-dead and taken off life support and died, the outlet said.
“It wasn’t right,” Hollins’ niece, Elma Hollins-Washington, told KTRK. “It wasn’t human.
“I said, ‘My God! Over a parking spot,’” she said. “‘You’re going to injure my uncle, and now, finally, he’s dead, and it was over a parking spot.’”
Anthony Boyce, 57, was arrested in the incident and charged with aggravated assault.
He was being held at the Harris County Jail on a $200,000 bond, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
But the charges are expected to be upgraded.
The sheriff’s office said in a release that the two men “were acquainted prior to this incident.”
Relatives told reporters that Hollins and Boyce knew each other because they frequented the food store, but it is unclear how well they knew each other.
Boyce, who is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 14, was identified as a former substitute teacher at a local school district, KPRC-TV reported Tuesday.
