STOWE TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A 14-year-old Stowe Township girl returned home from softball practice to find her older sister shot dead in the living room -- and when police arrived, they found her mother's body upstairs.
Police said the mother's ex-boyfriend, Durand Alexander, 30, was charged late Tuesday with two counts of criminal homicide.
Neighbors on Frazier Street told WTAE Channel 4 that Kiana Crawley got off her school bus and went inside the house, where she saw the body of her 15-year-old sister, Tia, on the living room couch. The girl called her dad and 911.
Police officers who were called to the house spoke with the girl and then found the body of the children's mother, Sherry Crawley, 43. Both victims had been shot.
"She didn't even know her mom was dead because she didn't go upstairs," said Kiana Crawley's friend, Samantha Schmidt. "She's being really strong for how young she is."
According to the criminal complaint, Alexander and Sherry Crawley had broken up the day before. The complaint said Alexander told police he had been drinking when he "flipped out" and shot her.
Polcie said Alexander told them he saw Tia Crawley on the sofa and shot her because she was a witness.
After the murders, police said Alexander went to a business in McKees Rocks where Sherry Crawley worked as a cook.
"I was on the phone with my manager at the time and a homicide detective was here as well interviewing one of my employees. He walked in supposedly to buy a beer and they arrested him here on the spot," said Sherry Crawley's boss, Rob Kaoina.
Friends of the family told Channel 4 Action News that had Kiana Crawley not been at a team practice at the time of the shootings, she might have become a victim as well.
"They were quiet people, real quiet, never bothered anybody. It was just a shock. In fact we didn't even hear anything. The detectives asked us if we heard any shots. We didn't hear a thing," said Vince Barbera, a neighbor. "Every time we saw them in the back yard, when it was warm, they were always in the back playing and the mother went right along with them."
Alexander was arraigned Wednesday morning. He's being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond.
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