Man accused in College Station kidnapping now faces murder charge

A homeless man accused of beating a College Station store clerk to the point of death, shoving him in the back of his own pickup truck, and driving him 200 miles now faces a murder charge, authorities announced Monday.

Nathaniel Tillery, 36, has been jailed since March 17 after Fort Worth police arrested him at his stepbrother’s house in far north Fort Worth where they found a stolen pickup truck with gas station clerk, Kevin Garcia, 55, in critical condition, police said.

Tillery previously faced charged of robbery, kidnapping and assaul. His bail totals more than $1 million, said Lt. Chuck Fleeger, a College Station police spokesman.

Fleeger previously told the Star-Telegram that Tillery attacked Garcia with his hands and fists in the parking lot of Drew’s Exxon in College Station at 3 a.m. March 17.

On Monday Fleeger declined to say if investigators have learned that other weapons were used, saying he “can’t comment on evidence.”

Drew’s Exxon surveillance video showed Tillery shove Garcia in the back of Garcia’s pickup truck before Tillery tried to unsuccessfully open a cash register. After the botched cash robbery, Tillery took off with Garcia in the back of the truck and drove to Fort Worth, Fleeger said.

Other than the fact that Tillery has family in Fort Worth, Fleeger said he couldn’t say why the homeless College Station man drove to his stepbrother’s house with a dying man in the back of a stolen truck.

Garcia had worked at the gas station for 14 years, his family told the Star-Telegram. Garcia died three days later at John Peter Smith Hospital after his family decided to remove life support and donate his organs for transplant. —Monica S. Nagy

This story was originally published April 6, 2015 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Man accused in College Station kidnapping now faces murder charge."