Police say the suspect called 911 more than a week after the shooting and pointed officers to the backyard.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A 26-year-old man is accused of fatally shooting his uncle inside an East Side home, hiding the body in a backyard recycling bin and calling 911 more than a week later, police said.

The case against Aquiminee La Roy Crawford centers on what investigators say he told officers after they arrived at the Sterling Street home around 9:30 p.m. May 17. Police say the call led them to the body of Derrick Cornell Crawford, 52, and started a murder investigation built on a reported confession, physical evidence inside the house and items later seized from the suspect’s bedroom.

Officers were sent to a home in the 100 block of Sterling Street after a caller reported that a man had killed his uncle and that the body was in the backyard. Police later identified the caller as Aquiminee Crawford. When officers reached the home, Crawford told them his uncle was “shot up in the back,” according to police records summarized in local reports. Officers then moved toward the backyard, where two of them noticed a strong foul odor near a recycling bin. One officer tipped the bin over. As the lid opened, police said they saw a human hand wrapped in black plastic. Derrick Crawford was found inside, wrapped in black garbage bags, with multiple gunshot wounds.

The discovery turned the home into a homicide scene. San Antonio Fire Department personnel pronounced Derrick Crawford dead at the scene, and the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled the death a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators said the shooting had happened days earlier, on or around May 9, inside the same home. Police said Aquiminee Crawford lived at the residence with his uncle. In an interview at San Antonio police headquarters, Crawford told detectives that a comment from his uncle had angered him. He said Derrick Crawford called him an insulting name, which caused him to “black out,” according to police. Crawford also told investigators he was upset that his uncle often borrowed most of his money, police said.

Police said Crawford described going to his bedroom, getting a handgun and shooting his uncle five times in the living room. At least two shots struck Derrick Crawford in the chest and head, according to the arrest records described by authorities. Detectives said Crawford also described what happened after the shooting. He told investigators he wrapped the body in black trash bags, moved it to the backyard and placed it in the recycling bin. He also said the gun, a plastic bag of spent shell casings and his uncle’s cellphone were in his bedroom. Investigators later obtained a search warrant for the home and recovered those items, police said.

Inside the house, detectives found evidence that they said matched Crawford’s account of the shooting. Police documented blood spatter on walls and the ceiling and a sofa cushion that appeared to be heavily soaked with blood. The records described the living room as the place where the gunfire occurred. Police have not said whether anyone else was present when the shots were fired. A woman who also lived in the home, identified in reports as Derrick Crawford’s mother, told investigators she did not know he had been killed. She said family members had been looking for him for about a week, police said.

The case also raised questions about the days between the shooting and the 911 call. Police have not said why Crawford waited until May 17 to call authorities or what happened inside the home during that time. Investigators have not released a full timeline for the removal of the body from the living room to the backyard. A neighbor told a local television station off camera that he had sensed something was wrong after noticing an odor near the home. Police records do not say whether the odor prompted the 911 call or whether Crawford gave another reason for contacting police that night.

Crawford was taken into custody and booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center. Records cited by local reports said he was initially booked on abuse of a corpse before murder charges were filed. Law enforcement reports have described the case as involving murder charges connected to Derrick Crawford’s death, with bond set at $250,000. The charging record and later court filings will determine how prosecutors present the case and whether any additional counts are pursued. Police have said the investigation includes the confession, the firearm, shell casings, the cellphone, the condition of the living room and the discovery of the body.

The Sterling Street home sits in an East Side area of San Antonio that became the focus of police activity after the 911 call. Local stations reported that reporters later went to the home and tried to speak with someone there, but the person did not answer questions. The public record released so far gives little detail about Derrick Crawford’s life beyond his age, name and family connection to the accused man. It also gives no public statement from relatives about the loss. The affidavit details, instead, describe the last known hours of the case through the words police attribute to the nephew accused of killing him.

As of the latest reports, Aquiminee Crawford remained in custody on a $250,000 bond while the case moved through Bexar County courts. The next major milestones are expected to come through formal court settings, charging documents and any future filings from prosecutors.

Author note: Last updated June 19, 2026.