Fort Worth church prays for healing after New Orleans truck attack claims TCU player's brother
NORTH TEXAS – One of the victims in the deadly New Orleans truck attack on New Year's Day has ties to North Texas – Martin "Tiger" Bech Jr. is the brother of a Texas Christian University football player.
At New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth on Thursday, pastors and members prayed for healing.
"The entire campus is hurting for one of their students, whose brother, Tiger Bech, was just out having fun, and he lost his life," Rev. Kyev Tatum Sr. said.
Bech, 27, brother of TCU wide receiver Jack Bech, was one of the victims of the New Orleans attack.
"He loved to go to the Stockyards," Martin Bech Sr. said. "He loved to go celebrate at TCU with Jack and he loved to go to Maria's and other restaurants in Fort Worth."
Bech Sr., Tiger's dad, said he was everything to his brother. Tiger was also a football standout during his time at Princeton University. He graduated in 2021.
Most recently, he started working for a Wall Street trading firm in New York City.
Their family had celebrated the holidays in Lafayette, Louisiana, their hometown. On New Year's Eve, Tiger's parents, Tiger, and his best friend, Ryan, visited New Orleans.
"We took them to dinner on New Year's Eve in New Orleans, my wife and I did, and then we left them there," Bech Sr. said. "They were going out and enjoying the city."
Early New Year's morning, he learned Tiger and Ryan were victims in the Bourbon Street attack.
Ryan was in better condition than Tiger, who had sustained severe injuries. Tiger's family got to the hospital as he was coming out of surgery.
"They worked on him so hard and they tried so hard for so long," Bech Sr. said. "I've never seen anything like it in my life, and unfortunately, they weren't able to save him."
The Bech family said their faith is getting them through.
"There are 14 other families that have lost a loved one, you know," Bech Sr. said. "Thirty-five of them are still wounded, many of them in critical condition. We certainly, certainly won't forget that and we pray for them and we hope the Lord holds them in his hands."
