The man who allegedly murdered a college student, a father-of-three and the dog he was pet-sitting had known the victims of the cold-blooded killing, police said.

Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22, who was studying at the University of Alabama, and 31-year-old Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, a single father of three, were found shot to death in Brookwood, Alabama on Monday.  

Police made the tragic discovery after conducting a welfare check at a home where Alvarez-Duenas had been looking after his friend’s dog, which was also found shot dead. 

Suspicions were raised when the alleged killer, 24-year-old De’Kendrick Crawford, was spotted on doorbell camera footage after the crime.

In addition, the suspect was already on the cops’ radar from a previous incident.

Crawford, knew both victims as well as the primary resident of the home where they were killed through work, according to investigators.   

‘We were able to identify who that suspicious person was that was seen on the doorbell cameras,’ Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jack Kennedy said at a press conference. 

‘That person turned out to be an acquaintance of everyone there, including the primary resident, they used to all work together at a local business. They all worked together, they all knew each other and socialized together at some point in the past.’ 

Despite their connection, police are yet to locate any evidence that could indicate a motive for Bates and Alvarez-Duenas’s deaths. The suspect remains tight-lipped, invoking his right to not speak to detectives. 

University of Alabama student Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22, was found shot to death in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Monday. Police said she knew her alleged killer through work 

 Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, a father of three, was found dead in the same house as Bates. He had been pet-sitting a dog there, and the animal was also killed

De’Kendrick Crawford, 24, is accused of murdering Bates, Alvarez-Duenas and the dog the father was pet-sitting. Police said he knew both victims but there is still no known motive

Crawford was already wanted on an outstanding warrant for allegedly firing a gun multiple times at an occupied office building on the University of Alabama campus. 

‘It was found that he already had a felony warrant for an incident last month where he had gotten terminated from a job on campus,’ Kennedy said. 

‘He was not a University of Alabama employee. He worked for some type of construction or some other type of company that was contracted at UA. 

‘He was terminated from his job out there and as he drove away, fired some shots out the window of a vehicle. Some of those shots struck a building near Coleman Coliseum.’ 

Crawford managed to evade law enforcement for weeks before the senseless tragedy on Monday, police said.

After an hours-long standoff with police, he was arrested for capital murder of two persons on Monday. 

Police have described the killings as random, saying that Crawford had little criminal history other than the previous warrant and that people who knew him were surprised by his arrest. 

Investigators are searching electronic devices and communications to try to determine a motive. Crawford has maintained his right not to speak with detectives, police said. 

Crawford’s alleged victims were found after the owner of the dog Alvarez-Duenas was pet-sitting had been unable to reach him on Sunday night and Monday morning, prompting her to check her home’s surveillance cameras remotely.

Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jack Kennedy said that Crawford had an outstanding warrant for allegedly shooting at a building on the University of Alabama campus

Police were called to do a wellness check at the home where Bates was killed and found her body in a closet. She had been fatally shot 

Footage showed a man acting suspiciously on her back porch during the early morning hours of that day, so she contacted her landlord, who then requested police investigate.

When officers arrived, they immediately found Alvarez-Duenas’s body upon opening the front door. They searched the rest of the home and discovered Bates’s body in a closet. The dog was also found shot dead inside the home. 

Surveillance footage was examined and Crawford was identified as the suspect. 

They soon located the suspected murderer at a relative’s apartment. They attempted to get him to leave the home, but he refused.

Officers eventually breached the building and located Crawford hiding in an attic crawlspace.

‘After four hours of tactical operations including drones, tear gas, tactical units – walls, doors being breached and attics being searched with K-9s, yeah, he gave up,’ Captain Kennedy said at a press conference.

‘He gave up only because he cared about himself more than he cared about his victims, and he knew that the guys that we sent up in that attic to get him would defend theirselves [sic] if he did anything,’ Kennedy added.

 Alvarez-Duenas was the sole caregiver and provider for his four-year-old, nine-year-old and ten-year-old

Bates would have graduated from the University of Alabama in December. Her friends and family described her as ‘the kind of person you could always count on’

Crawford was arrested about ten hours after his alleged victims’ bodies were found. He is being held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond, according to the jail’s records, and he has not yet entered a plea.

He has also been charged with firing a gun at an occupied building for his prior outstanding warrant.

Police said that Crawford will likely be hit with multiple other charges as the murder investigation develops.

A spokesman for the University of Alabama said: ‘We extend our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Jazmine Bates after this tragedy. UA staff have contacted her family to offer support.’

A representative for Buffalo Phil’s restaurant, where Bates and Alvarez-Duenas worked together and allegedly met Crawford, said: ‘There are simply no words to express the pain our team is feeling. 

‘They were more than employees — they were family. Their kindness, dedication and the joy they brought to our workplace will never be forgotten.’

A GoFundMe was set up to help Bates’s family cover the cost of funeral expenses and transportation arrangements to bring the student’s body to her home city of Chicago.

On the fundraising page, friends and family described the young woman as ‘the kind of person you could always count on, reliable, selfless, and always willing to help anyone in need without hesitation.’ She would have graduated in December.

Buffalo Phil’s restaurant in Tuscaloosa is pictured. Police said Crawford knew his alleged victims and the owner of the house where they were killed through work at the restaurant

A GoFundMe was also set up to help Alvarez-Duenas’s family cover funeral costs and provide financial support for his four-year-old, nine-year-old and ten-year-old children, as he was their sole caregiver and provider.

The father was described as ‘the best dad to those babies, always putting their needs first and making sure they felt loved and safe.’

‘He was also the best friend to many, a wonderful son, and a caring brother to his six sisters,’ the fundraiser added. ‘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.’