In the late hours of a Sunday evening in November 2019, the life of 26-year-old Jose Morel was tragically cut short in what authorities have described as a robbery gone wrong inside his Collingswood, New Jersey apartment. On November 17th, police responded to reports of an injured person at the Parkview at Collingswood apartment complex on North Newton Lake Drive. They discovered Morel in the lobby of his building, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to Cooper University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly before 11 p.m.
The investigation into the death of the Collingswood High School graduate quickly pointed to a violent robbery. Investigators determined that the motive for the deadly encounter was a quantity of marijuana. Three men were identified as suspects in the killing: Damian Crews, 20, of Collingswood; Dawud Haskins, 21, of Camden; and Dwayne Graves, 21, of Camden.
According to the investigation, the three men conspired to rob Morel in his apartment, a confrontation that ultimately led to his death.
Evidence gathered by law enforcement painted a grim picture of Morel's final moments. A witness who was with Morel that evening told police that two men, later identified as Haskins and Graves, forced their way into the apartment at gunpoint. The witness stated that Graves pointed a gun at Morel's chin, sparking a struggle during which the witness managed to escape. Inside Morel's apartment, investigators found a significant amount of blood, four spent shell casings, and several marijuana buds. Surveillance footage from the apartment building reportedly captured Crews, who also lived in the complex, going to Morel's apartment and later returning to his own with a large bag of marijuana. The footage also allegedly showed all three suspects entering the building together shortly before the shooting and fleeing together afterward.
In the days and weeks that followed, authorities apprehended two of the suspects. Dawud Haskins was arrested in Camden on an unrelated matter on November 25, and Damian Crews was arrested in Collingswood on November 27. Both were charged with felony murder and armed robbery. The third suspect, Dwayne Graves, who a witness identified as the shooter, remained at large for a period and was considered armed and dangerous.
