March For Dorothy Dixon Saturday May 31, 2008:
Friday, May 30, 2008 at 9:42PM
Gina, The Blogmother They said her housemates shot her with BBs and torched what few clothes she had, so she walked around naked, they testified Wednesday.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.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 (6.8 kilos) when taken into state custody after his mother's death, police have said. SOURCEPlease let Dorothy be resting in peace because Lord knows her last days spent on earth were a living HELL.
Disability Advocates Plan Memorial for Victim of Torture, Killing
For Immediate Release:
End Violence Against People with Disabilities Now!
Disability Rights Activists to Gather in Alton, Illinois
(Chicago) On Saturday, May 31, disability rights advocates from Illinois and the St. Louis, Missouri, area will gather in Alton for a community memorial in the name of Dorothy Dixon, a 29-year-old woman
with a developmental disability who was found dead due to domestic violence at the end of January. The memorial, organized by Feminist Response in Disability Activism (FRIDA), will be hosted at 11 am CST
at IMPACT Center for Independent Living at 2735 E. Broadway in Alton. The service will end with a procession to the house where Ms. Dixon died.
The story of Ms. Dixon's slow death over two months, allegedly at the hands of her housemates, shocked the disability community. Alton police found over 20 objects allegedly used to torture her, and at her death she was found cold and half naked, wearing only a sweater. She was six months pregnant at the time. Police believe the motive for her death may have been domestic conflict concerning her monthly
SSI disability check. At least one of her six alleged abusers also has a developmental disability; four are age 18 or younger. Ms. Dixon's surviving child weighed 15 pounds at the time, aged one.
People with disabilities, especially those with developmental disabilities, are historically more likely to become victims of physical violence, as well as emotional and financial abuse. Women and people who are LGBTQ are also more likely to become victims of violence. FRIDA and our allies are determined not to let this incident pass without bringing attention to the broader issues of violence damaging our community.
While Centers for Independent Living and grassroots groups like our ally, ADAPT, advocate for home and community-based supports so people with disabilities can live in the community, we need those supports to be safe supports. Our community needs better tools to protect ourselves from violence. "No one knows what it's like to go through that unless it's being done to you," says Veronica Martinez of
FRIDA. "If someone was planning to do that to me, I would like to be prepared."
Feminist Response in Disability Activism
115 W. Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60610
Contact: Monica Heffner, (312) 404-6021
www.ourfrida.org
Previous Post:
Happy Easter!--- May the Killers of Dorothy Dixon, 29 , Rot in Jail and then Rot in Hell!!
Dorothy Dixon in
Dorothy Dixon 


Reader Comments (3)
wow
i did not hear about this. No one has said a thing, and it happened in January (WTF!)
this is nuts...
i am so mad...
but thanks for keeping me informed
(I need to read your blog more often)
Hey there!
Thank you so much for sharing this!
I am absolutely horrified...speechless...incensed...MORE than furious...more than dumbfounded....just BEYOND expression about this horror....
Continue to blow the trumpet!
Lisa
I AM SOOO LATE. when i was reading this, i thought it was the other victim that i can't even mention her name cause her story was hardly ever mentioned. wow, two bm and a ww did this, which is fine to utter useless people like al sharpton and his ilk. i'm so disgusted and pissed. i NEVER NEVER heard about this, NEVER