A College of Alabama scholar, her pal and a canine had been discovered lifeless inside the house they had been pet-sitting — after the home-owner noticed a suspicious individual in her yard on her safety cameras.
Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22, and her pal Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, had been allegedly killed by De’Kendrick Crawford, 24, in Brookwood, Ala., on Monday, WIAT reported.
Their our bodies had been discovered after cops swooped on the house — positioned east of Tuscaloosa — to hold out a welfare examine when Alvarez-Duenas, a restaurant employee, hadn’t answered his telephone calls or textual content messages.
Alvarez-Duenas, a single dad to 3 youngsters, had been taking care of a colleague’s canine as she was out of the US, and he or she grew to become involved when she hadn’t heard from the pet sitter.
The lady noticed a suspect on her again porch when she checked her house safety cameras, elevating her suspicions.
Brookville police found Bates, Alvarez-Duenas and the pooch’s our bodies after they arrived on the house.
“Instantly upon opening the entrance door, there was a deceased male mendacity on the ground that was recognized as the individual that was house-sitting for her,” Jack Kennedy, of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, informed reporters Tuesday, based on the outlet.
Investigators combed by way of the house, the place they discovered Chicago-native Bates – who labored with Alvarez-Duenas on the restaurant Buffalo Phil’s Wings.
“Upon clearing the residence, they had been capable of finding a second deceased particular person, a feminine,” Kennedy mentioned. “She was within the again bed room in a closet.”
Bates, a enterprise administration and administration scholar, was simply 5 months away from graduating.
Crawford bolted to a relative’s condo in Northport – round 22 miles from Brookwood – and was arrested 10 hours after the restaurant staffers’ our bodies had been discovered.
Crawford was caught hiding within the house’s attic.
“After 4 hours of tactical operations together with drones, tear gasoline, partitions and doorways being breached and attics being searched with Ok-9s, yeah, he by no means gave up. He cared extra about himself than the victims,” Kennedy blasted.
Cops had been mystified why the 2 restaurant staff had been focused because the motive behind the capturing is unknown.
“We don’t know why he focused them,” Kennedy mentioned.
“They weren’t doing something incorrect. That they had finished nothing incorrect to him. None of his acquaintances know why this occurred.
“Nothing in our investigation has discovered that these victims in any means contributed to this; the motive is unknown.”
However the home-owner knew the victims in addition to Crawford by way of work, Kennedy mentioned.
Crawford was charged with capital homicide of two or extra individuals – an offense that carries a sentence of loss of life or life imprisonment in Alabama.
Tributes had been paid to the 2 restaurant staff after the tragedy.
“He was the most effective dad to these infants, at all times placing their wants first and ensuring they felt liked and secure,” Alvarez-Duenas’ family and friends mentioned in a fundraiser.
“He was additionally the most effective pal to many, an exquisite son, and a caring brother to his six sisters.
“Felix by no means met a stranger and would assist anybody in any means he might, at all times providing a hand or a form phrase to these in want.”
Juana Gutierrez Salas, Alvarez-Duenas’ sister, informed WBMA, “He was at all times there for anybody nonetheless he might be. He was a charismatic gentle. He was so energetic and love.”
“To know Felix was to like him! He wasn’t simply forgettable. He had a ardour for all times. He was reliable, accountable, considerate and enjoyable to be round.”
The restaurant mentioned Alvarez-Duenas was “one of many hardest-working folks you can ever meet” and mentioned Bates “had a bubbly character that might gentle up a room.”
“She had a lot life forward of her and her loss is actually heartbreaking,” it mentioned.
