George Elijah Jr., a 50-year-old White man from Montgomery, Alabama, was described by his son as a good man who would do anything for those around him. George ran a credit card processing business and was a close family friend to the Lopezes, who owned the Tienda Los Hermanos grocery store and were also his customers. He often stopped by to visit, sometimes bringing them Christmas presents.
His son, Mitchell “Holt” Elijah, said his father loved his family more than anything and taught him everything, from hunting and fishing to how to be respectful of others.
On the evening of June 4, 2024, George made one of his frequent stops at Tienda Los Hermanos on Troy Highway, partly to pick up food for his dogs. Just before 9 p.m., while he was on the phone with his brother, a robbery turned violent. George told his brother he had been shot and thought he was dying. When police and paramedics arrived, they found three men with life-threatening gunshot wounds. George Elijah Jr. and 20-year-old Daniel Lopez were pronounced dead at the scene. Daniel’s father, 43-year-old store owner Romero Lopez, was rushed to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The triple homicide shook the community, with some residents stating that a string of robberies targeting Hispanic-owned businesses had gone unaddressed. As the Elijah and Lopez families grieved, the Montgomery Police Department began its search for those responsible. Central Alabama CrimeStoppers offered a cash reward for information leading to an arrest.
On July 2, 2024, investigators arrested their first suspect, 18-year-old Jarques Qushawn Butler. After a foot chase, Butler was taken into custody and charged with two counts of capital murder. He was booked into the Montgomery County Detention Facility and held without bail. The investigation continued, and in October 2024, a second suspect was charged. Dequndray Savage, an 18-year-old who was already in jail on unrelated charges, was charged with multiple counts of capital murder for his alleged role in the shooting. As of October 2024, both men were facing charges in the deaths of George Elijah Jr., Daniel Lopez, and Romero Lopez.
