VIDEO: Interview with roommate of Quran Jones and Scott Hawkins

The suspect in Wednesday’s murder of Scott Hawkins was known as a quiet student with no obvious problems with others.

Quran Jones, 19, allegedly attacked and killed Hawkins, his suitemate, during an altercation in their room at American River Courtyard.

Spencer Dirrim, roommate and sophomore computer science major, said the two men hadn’t had any issues before Wednesday and was surprised the incident involved his roommates.

“I couldn’t believe it had been either of them because I didn’t think either of them were capable of that,” Dirrim said.

Dirrim said Jones had expressed interest in Mixed Martial Arts, Transcendentalism and hallucinogenic drugs.

He said that Jones would frequently watch videos about the Yogi in India and the Chakra and that he was “also kind of big into transcendental stuff.”

Dirrim did not think that Jones was doing any drugs, but said he was talking a lot about LSD and DMT.

“He talked about how people have had spiritual experiences with LSD and stuff,” Dirrim siad. “If I had to guess that this all could’ve come about as a really bad trip on his part because he had been talking extensively about DMT … and he had been talking about that a whole lot over the last couple weeks.”

DMT is Dimethyltryptamine, a hallucinogenic tryptamin. It is commonly found in plants and seeds but can also be produced synthetically.

It is commonly sniffed, smoked or injected.

Sgt. Norm Leong said the toxicology report for Jones has not yet come in and added that police wouldn’t release the information even if it had.

Friends of Jones told of a man who was quiet and calm.

Lavita Jones, sophomore psychology major and friend of Jones, said she was confused that Jones was a suspect because he was always nice and calm.

“When I saw the news, I thought (Jones) was the victim,” said Lavita Jones, who is not related to the suspect.

Jones never displayed any hostility at the university dining commons where he worked in the dish room, said Kim Smith, Jones’ co-worker.

Smith asked for her name to be changed to protect her identity.

“I never expected it,” Smith said. “As far as I’ve seen him, he didn’t have any signs or problems.

She added Jones was hired this semester to work at the dining commons, and has been working there for about a month.

He also did not have any known problems with the residents while he lived in Sierra Hall last year, Smith said.

Natalie Flynn can be reached at [email protected].