A tragic incident unfolded at a Brookwood, Alabama home where a University of Alabama student, a friend, and a dog were discovered dead. The bodies were found following a disturbing sight on security cameras, which showed a suspicious individual in the homeowner’s yard.
Jazmine Alexis Bates, aged 22, and her friend, Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, became victims of an alleged fatal attack by De’Kendrick Crawford, 24, according to reports from WIAT.
The tragic discovery was made during a police welfare check at the residence, located east of Tuscaloosa. Concerns were raised when Alvarez-Duenas, who worked in a restaurant, failed to respond to repeated phone calls and text messages.
Alvarez-Duenas, a devoted single father to three young children, was taking care of a colleague’s dog while she was traveling outside the United States. Worry set in when the homeowner could no longer reach him, prompting her to review the security footage.
The homeowner’s suspicions were triggered after checking her security cameras, where she observed a suspect loitering on her back porch. This unsettling discovery led to the subsequent call to law enforcement and the grim revelation of the incident.
Brookville police discovered Bates, Alvarez-Duenas and the pooch’s bodies when they arrived at the home.
“Immediately upon opening the front door, there was a deceased male lying on the floor that was identified as the person that was house-sitting for her,” Jack Kennedy, of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, told reporters Tuesday, according to the outlet.
Investigators combed through the home, where they found Chicago-native Bates – who worked with Alvarez-Duenas at the restaurant Buffalo Phil’s Wings.
“Upon clearing the residence, they were able to find a second deceased individual, a female,” Kennedy said. “She was in the back bedroom in a closet.”
Bates, a business administration and management student, was just five months away from graduating.
Crawford bolted to a relative’s apartment in Northport – around 22 miles from Brookwood – and was arrested 10 hours after the restaurant staffers’ bodies were found.
Crawford was caught hiding in the home’s attic.
“After four hours of tactical operations including drones, tear gas, walls and doors being breached and attics being searched with K-9s, yeah, he never gave up. He cared more about himself than the victims,” Kennedy blasted.
Cops were mystified why the two restaurant workers were targeted as the motive behind the shooting is unknown.
“We don’t know why he targeted them,” Kennedy said.
“They were not doing anything wrong. They had done nothing wrong to him. None of his acquaintances know why this occurred.
“Nothing in our investigation has found that these victims in any way contributed to this; the motive is unknown.”
But the homeowner knew the victims as well as Crawford through work, Kennedy said.
Crawford was charged with capital murder of two or more persons – an offense that carries a sentence of death or life imprisonment in Alabama.
Tributes were paid to the two restaurant workers after the tragedy.
“He was the best dad to those babies, always putting their needs first and making sure they felt loved and safe,” Alvarez-Duenas’ friends and family said in a fundraiser.
“He was also the best friend to many, a wonderful son, and a caring brother to his six sisters.
“Felix never met a stranger and would help anyone in any way he could, always offering a hand or a kind word to those in need.”
Juana Gutierrez Salas, Alvarez-Duenas’ sister, told WBMA, “He was always there for anyone however he could be. He was a charismatic light. He was so full of life and love.”
“To know Felix was to love him! He wasn’t easily forgettable. He had a passion for life. He was dependable, responsible, thoughtful and fun to be around.”
The restaurant said Alvarez-Duenas was “one of the hardest-working people you could ever meet” and said Bates “had a bubbly personality that could light up a room.”
“She had so much life ahead of her and her loss is truly heartbreaking,” it said.