TUSCALOOSA, AL — A Tuscaloosa Count District Court judge on Thursday found probable cause for two separate cases to move forward against a man accused of a double murder in Brookwood earlier this month.
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As Patch previously reported, Dekendrick Breon Crawford is facing two pending felony cases, including one count of shooting into an occupied building on the University of Alabama campus and capital murder for the shooting deaths of Jose Felix Alvarez-Duenas, 31, and UA student Jazmine Alexis Bates, 22.
Crawford was initially taken into custody at a Northport apartment complex after the Brookwood Police Department responded to the 1200 block of Alabama Junction Road in reference to a welfare check on July 6.
The welfare check was prompted when a resident of the home observed a man on her surveillance camera who did not have permission to be there.
Once inside, investigators found the bodies of Duenas and Bates, both of whom had been shot to death.
A preliminary hearing was held Thursday in the Tuscaloosa County Jail for Crawford in the two separate cases, with District Judge Joanne Jannik presiding.
Crawford is being represented by the Tuscaloosa County Public Defender's Office, while Assistant District Attorney Thomas Marshall is leading the prosecution for the state.
As Patch previously reported, Crawford was first suspected of firing into an occupied dwelling on the UA campus after he let go from his job.
Court records show that on May 21, the University of Alabama Police Department began investigating a shooting at 1201 Coliseum Drive — the listed address for Coleman Coliseum.
The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit subsequently responded to the scene, where they recovered shell casings and a projectile.
The VCU investigator who first responded to the scene at Coleman Coliseum took the stand during Thursday's first hearing and said a total of eight shell casings were recovered from the scene on the UA campus.
Crawford had reportedly been fired from a construction contracting job with Harrison Construction at the site and a manager told police Crawford had called a ride to pick him up upon receiving the news of his termination.
The investigator said the manager informed police that Crawford then pulled a handgun from his waistband and started shooting.
At one point, the manager said Crawford stopped shooting long enough for the manager to go around the back of his vehicle before Crawford saw him again and fired another shot.
The Violent Crimes Unit would go on to find that the building had been struck at least once by gunfire, resulting in the first charge against Crawford of shooting into an occupied dwelling.
The investigator then acknowledged that while video taken of the shooting makes it difficult to positively identify Crawford as the shooter, the events seen by police are consistent with testimony provided by those at the scene.
As Patch previously reported, the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit said immediately following the double murder in Brookwood that Crawford did not have any violent criminal record prior to earlier this year but did say it appears his behavior began to change after he became a wanted man for the shooting on campus.
After Judge Jannik issued her first ruling finding probable cause, the next hearing focused on the capital murder case against Crawford.
The lead investigator on the case was the only witness called by the state during the second preliminary hearing and provided several new details about the high-profile killings.
As Patch previously reported, officers with the Brookwood Police Department responded to the 1200 block of Alabama Junction Road in reference to a welfare check on July 6 after a resident of the home observed strange activity on her doorbell camera.
The investigator testified that the resident, who was in Spain at the time, could not make contact with the individual she had asked to watch her dog for her, so she called her landlord to check in on the residence.
Brookwood police were eventually able to enter the home a little after 1 p.m. on July 6, where they located Alvarez-Duenas shot to death on the floor just inside the front door.
Alvarez-Duenas had been shot multiple times, with the lead investigator saying he had noticeable gunshot wounds to his legs and abdomen.
The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit and U.S. Marshals Task Force conducted a further search of the home and then found Bates shot to death in a closet in a back bedroom — as if she was hiding and had been discovered by her killer.
Investigators said Bates was shot at least twice, including once in the neck.
During a search, her cellphone was also found wrapped in a paper towel and hidden in the top part of the closet.
Evidence at the scene when Bates was found indicated to police that she had been seated when she was shot. A 9mm shell casing was also later recovered in the body bag containing Bates' remains.
The dog owned by the tenant of the home whom Alvarez-Duenas was dog sitting — named Coco — was found shot to death in a corner.
After doorbell security footage eventually helped police identify Crawford as a suspect, investigators learned that the two victims and Crawford had all worked together at some point at Buffalo Phil's on The Strip.
This same doorbell camera allegedly captured Crawford first on video in the back of the house around 8:30 p.m. the night of July 5.
He was then recorded again on the same camera around 10:30 p.m. before being seen leaving around 4:30 a.m. the morning of July 6.
During this time where Crawford could be seen "coming and going," he allegedly was captured on video around 3 a.m. throwing items into the woods, including two smoke alarms and Alvarez-Duenas' cell phone.
At one point, investigators said Crawford was spotted entering the house with a bottle of Casamigos tequila and at another point, he was wearing what appeared to be gloves.
The tenant of the house where the fatal shooting occurred later told investigators that Crawford had been "infatuated" with her but the two had never been in a romantic relationship and only knew each other from work.
Crawford was then suspected of stealing Bates' car and fleeing the scene, before abandoning the vehicle at Green Village mobile home park in Northport. A bloody paper towel matching the same kind used to wrap Bates' phone was also recovered from the vehicle.
While investigators have a solid theory as to how Crawford left the initial crime scene, it remains unclear at this time how Crawford first got to the home in Brookwood.
Nevertheless, after abandoning Bates' vehicle at the nearby mobile home park, Crawford then allegedly made his way to Deerfield Apartments and began discarding evidence.
Indeed, investigators searching a storm drain roughly 50-60 yards from the apartment complex found an empty magazine for a handgun and a lone black slide sandal.
Further inspection of the storm drain also saw investigators recover a cell phone belonging to Crawford and when he was taken into custody, he was wearing just one black slide matching the same shoe recovered from the storm drain.
Following Thursday's preliminary hearing, the mother of Alvarez-Duenas spoke briefly as she tried to make sense of her son's violent death.
Maria Duenas, flanked by one of her church pastors, said her son was "my everything."
"My son was so respectful," she said. "He loved his mother and his kids — his three babies. If there was anything that I needed, I just called my son and he was always there. I don't know what I'm going to do without him."
Duenas also said she has been leaning on support from the congregation of Tuscaloosa First Assembly and Executive Pastor Jake Musgrove, who joined her in the county jail courtroom on Thursday.
"They've been with me ever since this happened," she said. "They took me in with my five grandbabies ... I just have so much family and I just want to know why? What did my son do to you? What did my son do to him? Ms. Jazmine and my son were innocent. They didn't do anything to you or the dog."
She went on to say her son left three children behind and had dreams of working in real estate.
"My son was working so hard to become a real estate agent because Ms. Jazmine was pushing him to do it," Duenas said. "Two weeks before this happened, he told me, 'Mom, I have a surprise for you. I'm buying my first house for you and [other family members]
"Now, I don't know when that's going to happen," she added. "But that was my son and now I know he's in heaven, and he's okay. And Ms. Jzsmine, too. That's all I can say."
It is unclear at this time when Crawford will have his first appearance in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court.
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