A University of Alabama student, her friend, and a dog were found de@d inside the home they were pet-sitting after the homeowner saw a suspicious person in her yard on her security cameras.
Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22, and her pal Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, were allegedly k!lled by De’Kendrick Crawford, 24, in Brookwood, Ala., on Monday, WIAT reported.
Their bodies were found after cops swooped on the home — located east of Tuscaloosa — to carry out a welfare check when Alvarez-Duenas, a restaurant worker, hadn’t answered his phone calls or text messages.
Alvarez-Duenas, a single dad to three children, had been looking after a colleague’s dog as she was out of the US, and she became concerned when she hadn’t heard from the pet sitter.
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 was arrested 10 hours after the restaurant staffers’ bodies were found. He was caught hiding in the home’s attic.
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 murd£r of two or more persons – an offense that carries a sentence of death or life imprisonment in Alabama.
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.”