Dorothy Dixon update: Jury trial for Michelle Riley has been scheduled

Via the blogger at What About Our Daughters comes word that the jury trial for Michelle Riley, who has been charged with murder in the killing last year of Dorothy Dixon, has been scheduled for August 17, 2009, at 9.00am. For readers unfamiliar with this case, Dorothy Dixon was a 29-year-old, pregnant, African American woman with an intellectual disability who died in January, 2008, from the injuries she had accumulated after being subjected to months of physical abuse. According to the coroners report, Dorothy had been beaten, scalded, burned with a glue gun, as well as shot repeatedly with a BB gun. Her unborn child was delivered stillborn during her autopsy. Michelle Riley, 35, Judy Woods, 43, three teenagers and a 12-year-old boy have been charged with her murder.

The full post at What About Our Daughters is here.

Dorothy Dixon update: First jury trial scheduled for next week

Via the blogger at What about our daughters? comes word that the first jury trial in the killing of Dorothy Dixon has been scheduled for next Thursday April 9, at 9.00am (here is a link to the court document). For readers unfamiliar with this case, Dorothy Dixon was a 29-year-old, pregnant, African American woman with an intellectual disability who died earlier last year from the injuries she had accumulated after being subjected to months of physical abuse. According to the coroners report, Dorothy had been beaten, scalded, burned with a glue gun, as well as shot repeatedly with a BB gun. Her unborn child was delivered stillborn during her autopsy. Michelle Riley, 35, Judy Woods, 43, three teenagers and a 12-year-old boy have been charged with her murder.

The full post is here.

"We want to make the statement that Dorothy Dixon will not be forgotten." FRIDA protests violence against women with disabilities

From the Telegraph (Alton, Illinois)

ALTON - They caused quite a scene marching down East Broadway early Saturday afternoon. Some were on foot, in wheelchairs, in vehicles or on motorcycles, with police cars at the front and back of the line. They proudly displayed signs and chanted as they journeyed up the hills of Sering Avenue.

"What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!" they yelled.

People along the way stood at their front doors to watch the commotion, while others peeked out of windows. Motorists honked in support and others pulled off to the side of the road to watch.

The group of nearly 30 people had gathered to honor 29-year-old Dorothy Latrice Dixon, who died from her injuries after being shot with a pellet gun, beaten and scalded over several weeks' time. She died in January. Dixon, who had moved to Alton from Quincy, Ill., was six months pregnant and developmentally disabled.

Six people, including two minors, face nine counts each in Madison County Circuit Court in Dixon's death. One of the people facing charges was Dixon's caregiver, who also had the authority to cash Dixon's disability checks. Authorities believe money sparked the abuse.

Dixon suffered her injuries inside her home at 2957 Hillcrest Ave., where she lived with five of the six people responsible for her injuries. A May 14 Madison County coroner's jury ruled the deaths of Dixon and her unborn son as homicides. Dixon also had a 1-year-old son, who was placed in protective custody with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. She was unmarried.

Dixon's death hit close to home for the people that gathered Saturday, most of whom are disabled or know someone who is. Members of Chicago-based group Feminist Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA) organized the memorial, procession and moment of silence at Dixon's former home. FRIDA is a "group of radicalized women with disabilities" who represent themselves.

"We felt it was really important when we heard about the life and death of Dorothy Dixon," said FRIDA member Sharon Lamp. "We want to make the statement that Dorothy Dixon will not be forgotten."

The group organized at IMPACT Inc., 2735 E. Broadway, a "self-help, advocacy organization" for people with disabilities. Attendees sat in a large circle, where several people shared poems, stories and their thoughts about Dixon and other disabled people suffering from abuse. They talked about people they knew and mourned for Dixon. One woman commented that disabled people, particularly women, are invisible in society.

Christine Wilk and Amber Smock, FRIDA members who organized Dixon's memorial, said their goal was to make a statement and get people talking. They want change - and they want it now.

The group marched and drove to Dixon's old home on Hillcrest. The current homeowners - Jessie Sr. and Robbin Hicks, and son Jessie Jr., 13 - walked outside to greet the mob of people who stopped in front of their house. Their 12-year-old daughter, McKayla, was not there. The family welcomed the group and participated in the moment of silence.

"I support any of this because I hate to see this happen to any female; it's just wrong," Robbin Hicks said of how Dixon died.

She said she knew Dixon, but not very well.

"I knew who she was and I spoke with her and I played with her baby," Hicks said. Hicks said she had not heard about Dixon's death until after her family had moved into the house. People still stop by the house, she said.

"A lot of people come and look at the house, stop for a second," she said. "Nothing comes out at night; it's pretty peaceful here. (Dorothy's) in a better place."

A coroner's jury has ruled that Dorothy Dixon's death was a homicide

The following update on the case of Dorothy Dixon appeared in the Chicago Tribune. Readers might recall that Dorothy Dixon was a 29-year-old, pregnant, African American woman with an intellectual disability who died earlier this year from the injuries she had accumulated from being subjected to months of physical abuse. The details surrounding her death are utterly heartbreaking. Her unborn child was delivered stillborn during her autopsy.

Thanks to Amber for the forward.

RIP, Dorothy and child.

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A coroner's jury ruled Wednesday that a pregnant mother's death was a homicide caused by weeks of torture with everything from a BB pistol and plunger handle to a hot glue gun and scalding water.

The six-person Madison County panel agreed with police findings that Dorothy Dixon and her unborn child were slain in January in an Alton home. Prosecutors already have charged two adults, three teenagers and a 12-year-old boy with murder.

Police have said the 29-year-old Dixon, who had a childlike mind, had been banished to the basement of the home and had little more than a thin rug and mattress on the chilly concrete floor.

Dixon, who was pregnant and had a 1-year-old boy, ate what she could forage from the refrigerator upstairs, investigators said. They said her housemates shot her with BBs and torched what few clothes she had, so she walked around naked.

When her body was found Jan. 31 in the basement, deep-tissue burns covered about one-third of her body -- her face, chest, arms and feet -- and left her severely dehydrated, police have said. Many of her wounds were infected.

Todd Ballard, an investigator with the coroner's office, testified Wednesday that authorities found Dixon's body already stiffening in death. She had been covered with towels, which investigators separately peeled away as evidence, revealing a body that was "wet and very cold to the touch," Ballard said.

Dixon, clad only in a sweater, had a body temperature of 66.4 degrees, Ballard said.

He said Dixon had scald burns on her head, shoulders and feet, as well as old injuries that X-rays later showed to be BB wounds, he said.

Jennifer Tierney, an Alton police detective, told the coroner's panel that investigators believe Dixon had been beaten severely the previous day with a plunger's wooden handle and a battery-operated dish scrubber.

In previous weeks, Tierney said, Dixon had suffered "numerous physical beatings," had scalding water thrown on her, was shot repeatedly by a BB gun and burned with a glue gun.

The coroner's jury concluded that Dixon died of an accumulation of injuries over time. Her unborn child, delivered stillborn during Dixon's autopsy, died because the mother did, the jury ruled.

Dixon's year-old boy weighed just 15 pounds when taken into state custody after his mom's death, police have said.

Investigators have put much of the blame on Michelle Riley, 35, who they said befriended Dixon but pocketed monthly Social Security checks she got because of her developmental delays. Dixon saw little, if any, of the money, police say.

Riley, Judy Woods, 43, and three teenagers, including Riley's 15-year-old daughter, are charged with first-degree murder, aggravated and heinous battery, intentional homicide of an unborn child, and unlawful restraint. Riley's 12-year-old son is charged as a juvenile.

All the adults remain jailed, while the 12-year-old boy is in juvenile custody. All have pleaded not guilty. Their attorneys did not immediately return messages left Wednesday by The Associated Press.

None of Dixon's relatives attended Wednesday's hearing.