FORT WORTH, Texas — The dining room was filled to the brim Monday night at Enchiladas Ole' on Sylvania Avenue.
It isn't unusual to find a packed house at Mary Perez's restaurant, but no one was really there for the food this time.
"I didn't want him to not be remembered at all," said Perez.
She's talking about Mark Hague, who lost his life outside of the restaurant earlier this month after being beaten.
His death, so near a place that had effectively become his home, has left a void. "He would make sure I got in safe. He would take all the chairs down off the tables," said Perez.
Hague struggled with homelessness for years. He often found comfort, a warm meal, and even part-time work at the restaurant.
His brother came to the memorial service on Monday night too, as did other family.
Michael Hague remembered fondly playing baseball with Mark decades as they grew up.
"He's still in my heart. I'll miss him," said Michael.
The circumstances surrounding the murder are still being investigated. What's known for sure is that a large crowd had gathered outside of Ole' after a car crash.
"We were all out there," said Perez. "A woman passing by said something, Mark said something [and] I still can't even comprehend it happened."
Perez says a man, later identified by Fort Worth police as Jeremy Johnson, attacked Mark after his exchange with the woman. He never regained consciousness, dying two days later at the hospital.
Johnson was arrested Sunday night by a fugitive task force.
For those in attendance Monday evening, it was a bit of poetic justice.
"There was no sense in this. It was senseless," said Danny Brinley, a close friend.
The pair deep fried a turkey together last Christmas, a moment captured by photos that Brinley eagerly shared.
"Sure, you're gonna find people that said, 'Oh, he's just a homeless dude.' But no," said Brinley. "He'd give you the shirt off his back."
Mark Hague was 58 years old.