Family remembers Lubbock man killed in hit and run

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LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - The family of 26-year-old Travis Motsenbocker said they have no doubt that early Sunday morning, he was trying to aid a dog hit by a vehicle.

That is what police told them Motsenbocker was doing around 2:40 a.m., before he was fatally struck by a vehicle that did not stop.

Lubbock police are still looking for the driver and ask anyone with information to call CrimeLine at 741-1000.

Karen Douglas, Motsenbocker's mother, said her son was not just passionate about animals. He was a 2006 graduate of Coronado High School, a former carpenter and private contractor.

He currently worked alongside her at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, where he helped build onto structures.

"He was a hard worker, he was funny, he was handsome," Douglas said. "He loved to make people laugh."

Douglas was a single mother of Motsenbocker, and said they were close after spending many years together alone.

"Travis was always such a good kid, and he always had such a huge heart," she said. "He wasn't shy about expressing his emotions, and he said, 'I love you, mom.' And we were in the parking lot, and I was walking away from him…and I said, 'I love you, too.'"

One of the most vivid moments Douglas will never forget was Motsenbocker's wedding day in April 2014.
His bride, Amanda Motsenbocker, says she fell in love with his humor back in elementary school.

"We had a lot of laughs at our house, over silly things," Amanda said. "Like when my feet are cold, I would put them on his tummy and we would just laugh about it because he would be like, 'Oh, it's so cold!' But he didn't care. He just wanted me to be comfortable."

Last Thursday marked six years since Amanda and Motsenbocker began dating.

"His blue eyes….I loved those eyes," she said. "He was so encouraging, and he was just so special."

As Amanda, Douglas and their families come together during this time of grief, they choose to focus on the smiles Motsenbocker brought them each day.

"He was bigger than life," Douglas said. "The whole world has lost somebody that had a good heart. We need more people like that."

Amanda's friends have set a GoFundMe page to collect donations for funeral expenses: https://www.gofundme.com/34964bq4