According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, police now believe that Dorothy Dixon, who was found dead on January 21 as the result of injuries she sustained from being beaten, scaled and shot with a pellet gun, may have been subjected to at least two months of abuse before she died. Implicit to this report is the suggestion that her death might have been prevented; according to a neighbour, the police were told in October 2007 that Dixon was being abused, but they didn't investigate further.
As reported last week, Dixon, who was intellectually impaired and six-months pregnant, was found dead in the bedroom of her apartment in Alton, West Central Illinois. A former occupant of the apartment, along with five other tenants, three of them minors, have been charged with her murder. Each faces four counts of first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an unborn child, heinous battery, aggravated battery and unlawful restraint.
