A man and woman have been indicted in the 2015 Walker County slaying of a 32-year-old man and his beloved dog.

Eric Cates, 32, and dog Gypsy were found dead inside Cates’ burned pickup truck near the old Empire School building.

On Friday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced murder charges against Joshua Franklin Hill, 33, and Cyerena Cheyenne Styles, 28, both of Walker County.

Styles was taken into custody by the Sumiton Police Department and Hill was arrested by U.S. Marshals.

Marshall said the case was presented to a Walker County grand jury on Oct. 5. The AG’s office investigated the case at the request of the Walker County Sheriff’s Office.

Cates’ mother, Tobbie Stover, expressed gratitude to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office and AG Steve Marshall for their work on the case during the past several years.

“They came through for us,” she said. “We are very, very thankful for what Attorney General Steve Marshall and his office has done.”

Stover says she “expects more from the (AG’s office) concerning this case,” and was familiar with the names of the two people charged with her son’s murder.

Stover and her family know the arrests aren’t the end of their road to justice. “It is a form of relief, but we know it’s the start of another chapter.”

There have been many twists and turns in the investigation into Cates death. Authorities two years ago announced a potential suspect in Cates’ death was in custody but that person was never charged.

Stover has refused to give up, hopeful that one day she might get some answers, and some closure.

Stover initially expressed frustration at how the Walker County Sheriff’s Office handled the case early on. When Sheriff Nick Smith was elected in 2019, the case was once again revisited and ultimately the sheriff’s office sent the Cates case to the State Bureau of Investigation.

Cates was last seen alive about 8 p.m. on March 20, 2015, at The Blue Store, where he filled up his truck with gas.

He was clean, his truck was clean. He was “dressed to go somewhere,” said family friend Crystal Corley, who worked at the store.

Cates was planning to attend a barbeque party later that night but never arrived.

Cameras on the side of the gas station showed Cates going down Coon Creek Road towards Hill Road, which leads into neighborhoods and eventually to the old Empire school building, where his body and truck were found the next day.

While an official cause of death hasn’t been released, Stover said evidence of soot in Cates’ lungs show he was alive when he was burned.

Gypsy’s remains were sent to Auburn University for a necropsy, but veterinarians told Stover there wasn’t enough left of the bulldog-mix to examine.