Man killed during attempted carjacking was about to celebrate 7th anniversary with fiancée

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The fiancée of a man killed during an attempted carjacking at a Third Ward park is desperate for police to find the people responsible.

Investigators say James Tolen was sitting with a friend in her car at Riverside Park Tuesday night when two masked men approached and forced them out at gunpoint.

Police say Tolen and his friend were walking away when the suspects realized his friend still had her car keys and gave chase.

Tolen and the suspects began tussling, police said, and it was during that struggle that Tolen was shot.

His fiancée, Krystal Carter, said she knew something was wrong when he didn’t return her calls and text messages.

“I’m texting, ‘Babe, where are you? I’m getting worried,’” Carter said.

It’s not until the next morning when the medical examiner’s office called that she said she got confirmation of what she already feared.

“Not having the why is torture. It’s torture and it’s hard to not – it’s hard to not think about or to spin up your own ideas,” Carter said.

Carter said she and Tolen met for the first time at a Shake Shack on her birthday and that they would have celebrated their seventh anniversary on Feb. 4.

In his honor, she’s planning to hold an event focused on gun violence on Feb. 4 at Riverside Park.

In the meantime, she’s urging anyone with information about the shooters to come forward. You can call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

“They took something from me, and if they’re not found, they could take something or someone from someone else,” Carter said.

In addition to his fiancée, Tolen leaves behind a 17-year-old son from a previous relationship.

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