HOUSTON—Just hours after this weekend’s Art Car Parade, tragedy struck.

Tom Jones, the 51-year-old curator of the Art Car Museum, was killed by an alleged drunk driver.

The accident occurred right outside of the museum on Heights Boulevard.

Friends and fellow Houstonians almost immediately began a makeshift memorial at the site of the accident.

“I just brought flowers and came over with my balloon,” art car fan Davie Purdie said.

Some mourners stopped by with cards and candles, while others came to look at photos of a friend they say was taken too soon.

11 News Photo

Tom Jones

“He’s a real likeable guy. Everyone liked him, as you can tell,” Purdie said. “I miss Tom, and the guy who did it is going to have to deal with it the rest of his life.”

Police believe that guy is Dustin Poe.

Poe, 23, has been charged with intoxication manslaughter.

Police said Poe was driving down Heights Boulevard early Sunday morning when he hit a parked car.  The crash pushed the parked car into Tom Jones, who was sitting with a group of people on the curb.

Jones was pinned beneath the parked car after the crash.  He was extricated and rushed to Ben Taub, where he later died.

It wasn’t Poe’s first brush with the law.  He has a previous DWI charge on his record.

But even though he has a prior drinking offense, 11 News legal expert Gerald Treece says the stakes won’t be much higher for Poe if he’s convicted this time around.

“The magic number is three, not two,” Treece said. “Our legislature has decided for reasons only known to the minds of the legislators that drinking and driving in Texas is not as serious as it is in some of the northern states.”

Friends who stopped by the museum Monday said Jones loved art, people and life in general. 

Funeral plans were still in the works, but Jones’ associates said they expect a big crowd with lots of art cars.

Poe is set to appear in court Tuesday.