Deundray Cottrell, Gay Atlanta Dancer and Doctoral Student, Found Dead in Alabama
Instagram/@vibesbydre
This article discusses the death of a Black gay man.
Thirty-one-year-old Atlanta resident Deundray Dominique Cottrell, who had previously been reported missing after visiting his sister in Birmingham, Alabama, has been found dead.
Cottrell’s sister, Angelica Harris, told AL.com, an Alabama-based news outlet, that Cottrell arrived in Birmingham on Thursday along with Julian Morris, whom his family identified as a romantic partner, to celebrate the July 4th holiday. Harris said that at around 10 p.m., as fireworks were going off, Cottrell went inside to check on his dog.
“He went and checked on the dog and I never saw him again,” Harris said.
According to Harris, Morris told them that Cottrell took off running through the backyard, where they later found some of Cottrell’s belongings, including a shoe and his cell phone. The family reported that Morris had been acting erratically prior to Cottrell’s disappearance, according to AL.com.
Footage from several nearby Ring cameras caught Cottrell running through yards and jumping over a gate. “It looked like he was looking for refuge,’’ Harris said. “He was running for his life.”
Just before 3 p.m. police on Saturday found Cottrell dead in the shed of a vacant house in Birmingham. As of Sunday, according to local NBC affiliate WVTM, Cottrell’s death was being treated as a homicide. Morris is a person of interest in the ongoing investigation, according to a press release from the Birmingham Police Department.
Cottrell’s sister also told local affiliate WSBTV that while others searched for Cottrell, Morris did not. “While we looked – Julian didn’t,” she said. “At one point when everybody was searching, Julian had fixed a plate and was sitting there eating, and he looked at me and said ‘omg the food is so good.’”
She said she believes that Morris knew more than he let on. “Julian knows everything and he made a point to keep reminding me throughout his rants that he was a marine,” she said.
Cottrell was in school to earn a doctorate and also worked in marketing, according to AL.com. He was also a dancer and the CEO of Skiiboyz Entertainment, an Atlanta-based dance trio that, according to the troupe’s Instagram profile, included Morris and another partner, DeEric Garnell. All three members of the trio had Instagram followings in the tens of thousands. Garnell wrote a tribute to Cottrell on his personal Instagram, alongside videos and images of the two dancing and kissing.
“RIH my beautiful angel,” Garnell wrote. “The first day I met you I knew you were MY person. Our bond stayed strong and no one could test that.”
He continued, “We were each other’s Yin and Yang. I was the crazy energetic spirit while you complimented me with your suave, chill vibes. We watched each other grow from little boys to handsome grown men. We stood 14 years strong!!!!! We graduated together. We started our lives in Atlanta together.”
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