Murder charges have been unsealed against a Gary man in connection with a July 31 double homicide.
Alex Dominique Russell, 35, faces two counts of murder; two felony counts of unlawful possession of a handgun by a felon; and two misdemeanors.
On August 29, Russell, 35, was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force pursuant to a search and arrest warrant.
Around 4:01 a.m. on July 31, Gary Police were investigating a double homicide, where the victims were found dead in the driver’s seat and front passenger seat of a blue Honda CR-V in the Village Shopping Center parking lot, according to the probable cause affidavit. The victims — 37-year-old Dante Givens and 36-year-old Deon Stewart — were fatally shot in the head and neck, respectively.
A witness told police that the two men were driving to Memphis, Tennessee, but as they were driving north on Grant Street, a dark colored small SUV pulled up next to them at the 37th Avenue light, court records state. They started to pull away when the light turned green, when a witness heard multiple gunshots coming from the dark colored SUV. There was broken glass on the passenger side and the driver and front passenger were slumped over and bleeding profusely, records state. A back seat passenger was able to steer the SUV into the nearby Village parking lot, where they called 911.
A passenger told police that the driver’s side window of the dark-colored SUV was partially rolled down, so he saw the driver wearing a black do-rag or bandana, the affidavit states.
Police found several FC 9mm spent shell casings in the intersection. Police didn’t find any guns in the blue Honda SUV, court records state.
Surveillance video from a nearby gas station and liquor store showed that the blue Honda pulled up to the Grant and Ridge Road light around 3:44 a.m. A gray Jeep pulled up behind it and honked once the light turned green, records state. The Jeep then passed the Honda on the right and was stopped at the next light at 37th about 1 minute later when the shooting occurred. The Jeep then headed east on 37th Avenue, the affidavit states.
Police were able to pull up the Jeep’s license plate number and put it in the Vigilant and Flock systems to alert law enforcement to the Jeep’s movement.
Around 5:13 p.m. on July 31, a Gary police officer stopped the Jeep at the 3.7-mile marker on westbound Interstate 94, court records state. Police notified the driver that the license plate was expired and towed the Jeep to the Lake County Crime Lab garage.
The woman driving agreed to speak with police but would not make eye contact and tried to claim she was at a party in Lake Station at the time of the shooting, records state.
Around 11:15 p.m., police executed a search warrant at a residence in the 2900 block of West 8th Avenue, where they discovered a purple and black Taurus 9mm handgun, Federal FC 9mm ammunition that matched, and a Springfield Armory 9mm empty pistol box. There was also part of a leftover pizza, as well as chicken wings, fries and chicken bones in a container on the bed, the affidavit states.
On Aug. 1, police obtained a Facebook video from the “Chubb N RedWorld” account promoting the chicken and pizza at Jo’s. That same account had other videos that included the interior of a Jeep Compass on a night when it was raining, which was uploaded on July 31, court records state.
A witness told police that they picked up Russell in the Compass and then drove to a residence. While the car’s owner went inside, Russell drove off in the Compass around 10 p.m. on July 30, records state.
The car’s owner sent a text to Russell around 4 a.m. on July 31 wondering where he was and he replied that he would be at the residence in a few minutes. He came back with pizza and wings from Jo’s Bar and Grill, the affidavit states.
Police obtained surveillance video from the Clark gas station, located at 2295 Grant St., from about 6 minutes after the homicides. A Jeep Compass was seen pulling into the gas station, and the driver rolled down his window fully and started speaking to another man, court records state. The driver in the video appeared to be Russell as he was wearing a similar bandana as the man in the Facebook videos.
Russell was previously convicted of robbery in Lake Superior Court in 2010 and he’s currently on bond in a resisting law enforcement case in Porter County, records state. Both make him ineligible to possess a handgun.
Anyone with further information about the homicides is encouraged to contact Detective Szemes of the Lake County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force at 219-755-3855.
