Inset: Aquiminee La Roy Crawford (Bexar County Jail). Background: The house where Crawford allegedly killed his uncle and hid his body in San Antonio, Texas (Google Maps).
A Texas man is behind bars after shooting and killing his uncle and then hiding his body in a recycling bin in the backyard for several days, law enforcement in the Lone Star State says.
Aquiminee La Roy Crawford, 26, stands accused of two counts of murder in connection with the death of Derrick Crawford, according to the San Antonio Police Department.
The underlying incident occurred at a residence on Sterling Street in the Colosseum Willow Park neighborhood of east San Antonio. There, authorities suspect the defendant shot and killed Crawford, 52, on or around May 9.
Over the weekend, police responded to a 911 call made by the defendant himself, according to a police report obtained by San Antonio-area ABC affiliate KSAT and Fox affiliate KABB.
When the officers arrived, Crawford told police his uncle was "shot up in the back," according to the arrest report. Two officers noted the presence of a "foul odor" coming from a recycling bin in the backyard.
One of the officers tipped the bin over, law enforcement said. As the lid opened, a human hand became visible. Inside the bin, officers found a dead man with multiple gunshot wounds; the man's corpse was wrapped in multiple black garbage bags, police said.
During an interview with police on Sunday night, the defendant admitted to getting a handgun from his bedroom two Saturdays earlier and then shooting his uncle inside the house, authorities said.
Crawford said he killed his uncle because he was upset about a comment the victim made to him, according to the police department.
While in custody, the defendant told a detective that his uncle called him a "b– a– nephew," which caused him to "black out" and open fire — ultimately shooting the man five times in the living room, police said.
At least two of those shots struck Derrick Crawford in the chest and head, authorities wrote in the arrest report.
The defendant also said he was angry with his uncle for regularly borrowing most of his money, according to law enforcement.
Based on the defendant's account, authorities recovered the gun said to have been used in the murder, a plastic bag of spent shell casings and the uncle's cellphone from Crawford's bedroom, police said.
Investigators corroborated the location of the shooting by taking note of blood spatter on the living room walls and ceiling as well as a couch cushion drenched in blood, according to law enforcement.
The victim's mother — who also lives in the home — was questioned and said she was unaware of the murder. Rather, the woman said, she and her family had been looking for the victim for roughly a week.
Crawford was initially booked in the Bexar County Adult Detention Center for abuse of a corpse before the upgraded charges were later filed. He remains detained on $250,000 bond.
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