Family Dollar Store Manager Stabbed To Death
ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- A community is devastated after the deadly stabbing of a store manager at a Family Dollar in Adams County.
Friends and witnesses said that Alex Alvear, a man in his 40s, was killed Thursday in what may have been a robbery gone wrong.
On Friday, loved ones showed up outside the store on Pecos near 72nd Avenue and left candles and flowers near the front door.
"It can't be real," said Thomas "Joey" Cerda, fighting back tears.
Cerda, who was Alvear's best friend, said that the violent stabbing seemed like a nightmare.
"He was a really hard working man. He loved his job. He loved his husband," Cerda said of his friend.
According to a spokesperson with the Adams County Sheriff's Office, Anthony Grayson, 42, went inside the store and stabbed Alvear to death.
George Telles, the owner of a business nearby said that he saw the suspect walk by his store just minutes earlier.
"(He) looked weird, just because of the way he was walking. Kind of a slow pace, not a normal pace," Telles said.
Deputies arrived in two to three minutes and arrested Grayson at the scene. He's being held on suspicion of first-degree murder.
"I really want to see this person be put away," Cerda said. "I really do, because honestly, he was too young for him to lose his life like that."
Customers who were just learning of the tragedy came by to shed a tear.
Other shoppers like Anita Romero were unaware of the stabbing and arrived to find the store closed and one of their favorite workers gone.
"I'm just shocked," said Romero. "I'm just like, why? Why someone so innocent?"
"He always had a smile on his face," said Desmond Folks, another customer who knew Alvear. "For some reason, people just can't get along, and that really hurts. And the tragedy that happened now, I just can't believe it."
Cerda and Alvear's husband started a campaign to raise money in an effort to send Alvear home to Mexico where he can be laid to rest with his family.
Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.
