HARDIN COUNTY-By: Leslie Rangel

Friends of 18-year-old Lamar University freshman Brian Wayne Drake Jr., who was murdered in Hardin county,  are remembering their days together in high school. 

"He was always smiling, always joyful, he'd embrace anybody that came around him, he would love you for who you are," Aubrey Langham remembers. 

Brian Drake was shot after being chased down County Highway 326 in Hardin County by 22-year-old Curtis Glaze and 26-year-old Joshua Glaze.

The two men are behind bars with bond set at $850,000 each. 

Drake's friend Langham says it's unfair his life was taken.  

"We always enjoyed our time we had, you know, senior year doesn't last forever." Langham said. 

Drake was on the Lumberton High School football team. he played center and wore number 67. 

He was in shop class with Aubrey Langham.

Hardin county deputies are still investigating, but they say so far they have found Brian Drake was doing nothing wrong. 

"They were just in the wrong place a the wrong time," Captain Gary Spears of Hardin County Sherriff's Office says "It's kind of perplexing really, we don't have a clear cut motive at this time." 

HARDIN COUNTY - by Scott Lawrence - An 18-year-old Lamar University freshman from Lumberton is dead and two men accused of opening fire on Brian Wayne Drake Jr.'s truck and murdering him are behind bars in Hardin County, according to information provided to KFDM News by Hardin County Chief Deputy Kenny Davenport.

A judge has arraigned Joshua James Glaze, 26, and Curtis Dewayne Glaze, 22, both of Hardin County, on murder charges. They're in the Hardin County Jail on $850,000 bonds each.

Drake was killed by a bullet that penetrated his headrest and struck him the back of the head on Highway 326 between Kountze and Sour Lake while he was trying to get away from another driver who was pursuing him, according to Davenport, who said an autopsy has been ordered.  

Drake is listed as a mechanical engineering major at Lamar University, according to Brian Sattler with LU.

A spokeswoman for the Lumberton ISD told KFDM News that Drake played 3 years on the high school football team and was a center for the Raiders.

Friends tell us he was a smart student and a wonderful person who would never hesitate to help someone if they needed it. They say he always had a smile on his face and was kind-hearted.

Joshua James Glaze, 26, of Hardin County, and Curtis Dewayne Glaze, 22, are in the Hardin County Jail on murder charges. Davenport said both live on Glaze Road off Highway 326. He believes they're cousins.

Davenport told KFDM News the Hardin County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from a young girl at about 8:45 p.m. Wednesday reporting that she and a young man were hiding in a wooded area after their friend had been shot.

According to Davenport, Drake was with a 15-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy and they'd just dropped off a friend on Glaze Road near Highway 326.

Davenport said the teens had done nothing wrong but for some reason the two suspects attempted to stop Drake and cut him off after Drake and the teens had dropped off a girl at a home on Glaze Road. Davenport told us the teens didn't know the men.

According to witness statements, the suspects tried to block Drake in their Dodge Durango and he went around them and left in an effort to get away from them. He tried to head back to Lumberton but ended up heading toward Kountze on Highway 326.

Davenport said several shots were fired at Drake's truck while they were on Highway 326. One shot went through the headrest and struck Drake in the back of the head. Davenport said one or two other shots struck the pickup. The other teens weren't hurt.

The teenage boy grabbed the steering wheel in an effort to control the pickup. It veered off the highway and went over an embankment before coming to rest in a field.

The teenagers hid in the field and called 911.

Hardin County deputies, with help from the Sour Lake constable and Texas Department of Public Safety, found the suspects on Glaze Road and took them into custody. Deputies took them to the Sheriff's Office where they were questioned.

The suspects are awaiting arraignment in the Hardin County Jail.

"It's just a senseless crime," Davenport told KFDM News.