Family members are mourning and remembering a Bridgeport veteran who was killed in a Christmas car crash.

Police say Carlos Velez was critically injured on Christmas when he was involved in a three-car crash in Harwinton.

"He lives in my mind and all my memories of him," Velez's mother Alma Velez says. "He lives in my heart like a son and I keep them all, the memories I have for him."

The family says Remi, who survived the accident, was Velez's service dog, given to him to help treat the post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered as a result of his service.

Velez was a decorated combat veteran who served in Iraq. His family says he served in the U.S. Army for five years and was still serving in the Reserves at the time of his death.

His family says it is ironic Velez survived years of combat duty, only to be killed in a car crash at home. But to them, no one was more brave.