BEAUMONT, Texas — The family of a Beaumont man found dead in a wooded area near a Beaumont Walmart told 12News he may have been doing something he should not have, but was a good person who should be remembered for the friend he was.
Doyle Kendrick's family shed some light on the moments leading up to his death.
"I was in shock man, I wasn't expecting that at all man," his son Brandon Leblanc said.
Kendrick's body was found in a wooded area near Walmart in Beaumont.
Investigators originally ruled it an unattended death.
A preliminary autopsy report tells us Kendrick died of multiple heart complications. His aunt Kimberly Beyer says he may have overexerted himself running.
"I know that Doyle was running from something he shouldn't have been running from, and I want it to come out the way it should," Beyer said.
The family says police told them Kendrick committed a crime at the Walmart, and tried running into the woods to get away. Despite despite everything that’s happened, the family says Kendrick was still a good person.
"He was there for everybody. If anybody needed help he would say 'just come grab me, I'm there to do it,'" his nephew Layne Beyer said.
"He was always wanting to do something, and always wanting to help people," Leblanc said.
The family says they don’t want him remembered for the poor choices he made during his last moments, but for all of the good ones he made throughout the rest of his life.
"He was always smiling no matter what. It could be the worst situation, he was the one there with the biggest grin," Layne Beyer said.
"I love him very much and I will miss him because I don't know how I'm going to continue life without my best friend," Kim Beyer said.