It was on a country road in rural Chambers County that 54-year-old Leslie Larrison took his last breath. Authorities say he was shot and killed after a confrontation with another driver.
"(He was) probably one of the best men that I've ever known," said Larrison's daughter, Shelly Riley. "He was an outstanding father to me. He was an outstanding husband to my mother."
According to the Chambers County sheriff, 56-year-old Larry Brinkley was driving erratically on Barrow Cemetery Road in Hankamer, when he cut Larrison off. Larrison followed Brinkley to the home he was driving to and then confronted him about his driving.
"(It) doesn't appear he was interested in a fight. He merely wanted to confront this fellow because of the dangerous driving he was doing that almost caused him to get into an accident," said Chief Brian Hawthorne with Chambers County Sheriff's Office.
But during the argument, the sheriff says, Brinkley pulled a gun and shot Larrison point blank. He says Brinkley drove away, but deputies intercepted and arrested him.
"It's definitely a lesson learned for us that no matter how good a person someone is, there's always an enemy out there somewhere," said the victim's family friend, John Varnado. "It's just a senseless tragedy."
Larrison's family is making funeral arrangements for the man they and the rest of the community knew as 'bubby;' a man who spent his life in Chambers County and died, it seems, for no good reason.
"But we know what he would want from us. We have to move forward and remember him as the man that he was and not for the tragedy and how he was taken away," said Riley.
Brinkley is facing a capital murder charge.
The Chambers County sheriff says because road rage can result in such dangerous situations, it's always best to call 911 and let law enforcement handle the erratic driver.
Larrison's family says his funeral services will be held at Anahuac Methodist Church sometime in the next week.
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