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An Alabama man accused of gunning down a University of Alabama student, a father of three and a family dog was captured hiding in an attic crawl space just hours after the victims were found inside a home, authorities said.
De’Kendrick Crawford, 24, is charged with capital murder in the July 6 killings of Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22, and Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, according to the Tuscaloosa County Violent Crimes Unit.
The investigation began after a homeowner, who was out of the country, became worried when she couldn’t reach Alvarez-Duenas, whom she had asked to house-sit and care for her dog.
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After checking her doorbell cameras, she spotted a man acting suspiciously on her back porch during the overnight hours and asked her landlord to contact police.
When Brookwood officers arrived for a welfare check, they found Alvarez-Duenas dead just inside the front door.
As they cleared the home, they discovered Bates dead inside a bedroom closet. Both had been shot. The homeowner’s dog had also been killed.
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Bates, Alvarez-Duenas and the homeowner all knew each other from working at a local business, investigators said. Crawford had also previously worked there and knew all three.
Doorbell camera footage, electronic evidence and other physical evidence quickly led detectives to Crawford, who was tracked to a relative’s apartment in nearby Northport.
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Rather than surrender, Crawford barricaded himself inside the apartment, prompting a large response from local, state and federal law enforcement.
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Officers eventually breached the apartment and found him hiding in an attic crawl space roughly 10 hours after the victims were discovered.
According to jail records, Crawford was booked July 7 on charges of capital murder involving two or more persons and discharging a firearm into an occupied building.
The homicide investigation also uncovered that Crawford was already wanted on an unrelated felony warrant tied to a May shooting near the University of Alabama.
Police allege Crawford fired several rounds into an occupied office building near Coleman Coliseum after being fired from a contractor job on campus.
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Authorities emphasized that the contractor position was unrelated to the local business where he had worked alongside the victims.
The killings stunned friends and former coworkers at Buffalo Phil’s Wings, where Bates, Alvarez-Duenas, the homeowner and Crawford had all previously worked together.
“It is with shattered hearts that we share the unimaginable loss of two beloved members of our work family,” the restaurant wrote in a Facebook tribute. “Felix and Jazmine were more than employees—they were family.”
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The restaurant remembered Alvarez-Duenas as “a devoted single father to three beautiful children,” adding that “nothing in this world made him prouder than being their dad.”
Bates, who moved to Alabama from Chicago, was expected to graduate from the University of Alabama in December. The restaurant said she “came here with big dreams and was determined to build a bright future,” remembering her as someone with “a beautiful heart, and a smile that made everyone around her feel welcome.”
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“Our hearts are with Felix’s three children, both of their families, their friends, and everyone whose lives they touched,” the restaurant wrote. “Felix and Jazmine…you will never be forgotten.”
The University of Alabama also mourned Bates’ death.
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“We extend our deepest sympathy to family and friends of Jazmine Bates after this tragedy,” the university said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “UA staff have contacted her family to offer support. Counseling and support resources are available to impacted students through the Office of Student Care and Well Being.”
The university also thanked local law enforcement and the University of Alabama Police Department for their response.
GoFundMe pages have been created to help support Alvarez-Duenas’ three children and to assist Bates’ family with funeral expenses and transportation costs to return her to her hometown of Chicago.
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