The quiet streets of northwest Austin were shattered by violence early Monday morning when a 49-year-old man, identified as Stephen "Steve" Peterman, was tragically killed outside his home while taking his dog for its routine morning walk. Law enforcement officials found Peterman near his white work truck, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the torso. According to court documents, he died at the scene despite efforts to revive him.

As Stephen Peterman's family mourns, they remember him as a man of love and kindness, whose service to his country spanned over 20 years as a former first sergeant with the U.S. Marine Corps. In a statement obtained by the Austin American Statesman, his family recalled his servant's heart and his devotion to faith and country. "We want the world to know that he was a good, powerful, solid man," Ben Peterman, his father, told the Austin American Statesman.

New details emerging from an affidavit reveal that the suspect, William Jewel Daniels, 36, of San Antonio, may have been attempting to break into Peterman's truck at the time of the shooting. A neighbor's security footage caught the sound of the six fatal gunshots and a vehicle speeding away matched Daniels from its license plate, leading to the suspect's arrest and charge of murder as reported by KVUE.

Daniels was taken into custody and is currently being held at Travis County Jail on a $1 million bond. The detective believes seeing the suspect, Peterman may have confronted him, which led to the shooting. Adding to the tragedy, Peterman was the sole breadwinner for his family, inclusive of his 7-year-old son. His wife, Nona Peterman, has started a GoFundMe to cover the unexpected financial strain following her husband's deeply felt loss. "In an instant, our world was turned upside down, and the pillar of our family was taken from us," she wrote on the fundraising page, as per the Austin American Statesman.

Beyond Peterman's military achievements, which included three tours overseas with deployments to Kosovo and Iraq, he is remembered by his parents as a reading enthusiast with a penchant for military history, and a "mischievous" spirit, whose pranks like the one with a bottle rocket and a UPS truck are fondly recalled. Peterman's life, deeply rooted in service and faith, paints a stark contrast to the senseless violence that ended it.