Dorothy Dixon Update: First Jury Trial Scheduled Next Week

I wrote about the case of Dorothy Dixon on this blog  almost a year ago. I also mentioned Dorothy Dixon in an article I did for the September issue of ESSENCE magazine about maternal homicide. For those who don't know, Dorothy Dixon was a pregnant mentally disabled Black woman who was tortured for months allegedly by the people who who lived off her Social Security check: Although her main torturer appears to have allegedly been a White woman, this case got almost NO media attention because two Black teens were also implicated in the crime. Thus "technically" Dixon fell into the relm of a victim of Black on Black crime, thus she gets no attention. Michelle Riley worked at a state facility where Dixon lived and eventually took up residence with Dixon, collecting Dixon's Social Security check and serving as a ring leader in the ongoing torture of Dixon. They literally used Dorothy Dixon for target practice, the coroner removed BB pellets that were embedded into her skin:

Banished to the basement, the 29-year-old mother with a childlike mind and another baby on the way had little more than a thin rug and a mattress to call her own on the chilly concrete floor. Five adults and a 12-year-old child were charged with Dorothy Dixon's murder. Dorothy Dixon ate what she could forage from the refrigerator upstairs, where housemates used her for target practice with BBs, burned her with a glue gun and doused her with scalding liquid that peeled away her skin. They torched what few clothes she had, so she walked around naked. They often pummeled her with an aluminum bat or metal handle. Dixon -- six months pregnant -- died after weeks of abuse. Police have charged two adults, three teenagers and a 12-year-old boy with murder in the case that has repulsed many in this Mississippi River town. Investigators 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, Hayes said. For months she weathered the torment to keep a roof over her head and that of her year-old son, who weighed just 15 pounds when taken into state custody after his mom's death.... Hayes watched the autopsy and found her injuries disturbing. X-rays revealed roughly 30 BBs lodged in her. Deep-tissue burns covered about one-third of her body -- her face, her chest, her arms and feet -- and left her severely dehydrated. Her face and body showed signs of prolonged abuse. Many of her wounds were infected. None of the injuries, Hayes said, proved singly fatal to Dixon. Her system already was taxed by her unborn baby. "The autopsy sort of indicates her immune system just shut down," he said. "It was not capable of fending off any more." Source

Now the media trail that was cold following Dixon's death has grown ICE COLD in the intervening months so I took it upon myself to check in with the court handling the case and surprise, the first jury trial in this case is scheduled for 9:00AM on April 6, 2009. Judy Woods is the defendant. The trial of the suspected ringleader, Michelle Reilly, is scheduled for April 13, 2009. Interestingly enough they have both been assigned different judges same prosecutor. I don't know if the trials will actually occur or if they will be delayed, but I will check in again next week to see what is going on. If you are in the St. Louis area, I believe Alton, IL is about 15 miles north.

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ESSENCE Magazine Highlights Dorothy Dixon and Other Victims of Maternal Homicide

September Essence Why do I own four copies of the September issue of ESSENCE magazine? No, not because Michelle Obama is on the cover, but because page 146 highlights the story of Dorothy Dixon, the mentally disabled 29-year-old pregnant Black woman that was tortured to death in a house of horrors. A case as gruesome as any I have heard of, yet absent from MSM. The article also highlights other Black women and GIRLS who have been brutally killed while pregnant such at Cheri Washington and Chauntae Jones . I won't give away all of the details. Pop into Walgreens, CVS, 7-11 or wherever magazines are sold today and check it out. In the interest of full disclosure, I wrote it, but I would have mentioned it anyway because I don't know of another major media outlet, other than some Chicago newspapers that have even mentioned Dorothy Dixon's case. Brutal Deaths Writing for this blog is easy. Its like painting with a keyboard. My thoughts go from my brain to my keyboard and viola, there is a post, albeit, a post riddled with typos. Writing for someone else is excruciatingly difficult and the background for this story was rough because I had to read about very young teenage Black girls who were basically lambs led to slaughter. Trustingly going off with a man that they thought "loved" them. They would go meet the father of their children, typically older or MUCH older men and boys and then they would be brutally ambushed. BRUTALLY.I'm talking baseball bats, knives, duct tape, being buried alive by the fathers of their children and in almost all of the cases, someone else knew about it and witnessed it, but didn't stop it. These men didn't just want to kill them, they wanted to punish these teenage Black girls. For what? What did they have to be angry about? Endangered Black Male. I point out the difference in response to Black women and girls being slaughtered and our community's never ending quest to preserve young Black men. CNN and ESSENCE did a poll about the quality of life for Black men vs. Black women over the past 10 years. Now after that hatchet job CNN has been doing on Black folks for the last month, I don't trust much that they put out about us now, but you might find it interesting that they are claiming that most Americans believe conditions have improved for Black women over the past 10 years while only 35% of Black folks believe conditions have improved for Black men. Concrete Loop. Meaning, Black men are suffering disproportionately to Black women. In what world? Have you looked at a music video recently? I can assure you if ten years is your benchmark, we're doing worse on at least one front. We razz them about their obsession with Kim Porter and the editorial slant that being a single Black woman is a fate worse than death, but long before they ever knew my name, back in the days when I was a subscriber, ESSENCE covered crimes against Black women and girls. Therefore, I temporarily ended my ESSENCE embargo and purchased a few copies. Other Tidbits from the Issue In addition to the article, they have a lovely photo spread of the Obama family looking lovely. They may be obsessed with selling us on the suckiness of singlehood, but ESSENCE knows how to print beautiful photographs of Black folks. The issue also had some good recipes ( there is a chili on page 206 I am going to try) They mentioned that The Secret Lives of Bees is coming out October 17th featuring Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keyes, Dakota Fanning and Queen Latifah. There is an essay on the very last page by Iyanla Vanzant ( I know. I know). It caught my eye because of this featured quote

"Just because you can take the punch doesn't mean you have to stand in front of the fist."

Who decreed that our lives had to be HARD. That Black women had to endure? You're not proving how strong you are by staying in a ridiculous situation. Get out----while you still can.

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March For Dorothy Dixon Saturday May 31, 2008:

She was the pregnant Black woman who was allegedly tortured over a series of months by a group of six people. Notice that although most of her alleged torturers were White, no members of the Civil Rights Industrial Complex are rushing to bring more attention to her tragic death you won't hear any outcry for a hate crimes designation despite the fact they burned almost 3/4 of her body to the point that her skin was peeling off and used her for target practice... WHILE SHE WAS STILL ALIVE! Why? because two of her attackers are Black males and thus she is "technically" a victim of Black on Black crime and y'all know Black on Black crime is NOT PART OF THEIR MISSION

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. SOURCE

Please let Dorothy be resting in peace because Lord knows her last days spent on earth were a living HELL.

March Info:

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

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Happy Easter!--- May the Killers of Dorothy Dixon, 29 , Rot in Jail and then Rot in Hell!!

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Happy Easter!--- May the Killers of Dorothy Dixon, 29 , Rot in Jail and then Rot in Hell!!

It is Easter so you should not be reading this blog today. Let this be a lesson to you and me to unplug from the internet on the holidays because otherwise you are liable to read tragic posts like this one...

Dunbar Village, Megan Williams, you can now add Dorothy Dixon to the list. Dorothy Dixon a developmentally challenged Black woman died a barbaric death on January 31, 2008, but of course because her name isn't Chandra, Natalie or Lacey, it didn't make the wires... Black women dying aren't newsworthy haven't you heard.

Hayes watched the autopsy and found her injuries disturbing. X-rays revealed roughly 30 BBs lodged in her. Deep-tissue burns covered about one-third of her body -- her face, her chest, her arms and feet -- and left her severely dehydrated. Her face and body showed signs of prolonged abuse. Many of her wounds were infected. AOL

They used her body for target practice. I want to "thank" WAOD tboddy for the hat tip,I am implementing a new policy of not reading my email on holiday weekends. Go back and look at what was waiting in my inbox for Labor Day. If you want to question just how sick the world has become, you can go to AOL or CNN to read about how this poor Black woman, Dorothy Dixon lived and how she died. I hope that Dorothy Dixon found the peace she was denied in life in death...and where the heck were her family members?

In this case, her torturers were interracial, White women and Black men, including a 12 year old boy.

Dixon -- six months pregnant -- died after weeks of abuse. Police have charged two adults, three teenagers and a 12-year-old boy with murder in the case Cnn.com

May they rot in jail and then rot in Hell.

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