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Edmond (Left), Taylor (Right)


Dixon murder case bound to grand jury

Evidence was presented at a preliminary hearing June 17 that convinced Clarke County District Judge J. R. Morgan to send the capital murder charges against two men to a county grand jury for possible criminal indictment.

It also came out that one of the individuals may be connected to the robbery of a country store near Jackson a few weeks earlier.

Hikeem Edmond, 23, and Kylyn Taylor, 20, were charged with shooting and killing Theathor Dixon, 72, of Thomasville, a log truck driver before dawn on the morning of Jan. 28. The murder occurred on Waterway Road, a dirt road off of the Walker Springs Road in the Jackson police jurisdiction.

Taylor is from Jackson while Edmond is from Bessemer, near Birmingham.

District Attorney Spencer Walker said robbery was the motive for the murder, hence the capital murder charges.

Edmond and Taylor, cousins, have been in jail without bond since their arrest Jan. 29 in Montgomery. In his order, Judge Morgan ordered them to remain in jail without bond.

Ron Baggette was the lone witness during the hearing. He is an investigator for the Jackson Police Department and is investigator for a major crimes division for the First Judicial Circuit. He formerly was an investigator for the Clarke County Sheriff’s Department.

Brian Clark, investigator with the Jackson department, was also subpoenaed as a witness and was in the courtroom but was not called to testify.

Dixon was working with a logging crew working off of Waterway Road, delivering cut timber to a local mill. He routinely stopped at Dunn’s Shell in Grove Hill every morning for breakfast and Baggette said the store’s surveillance cameras show him at the store on the morning of Jan. 28 with his billfold open and a large amount of cash visible.

He drove on to the work site where he was shot, killed and robbed.

Glen Bradford called 911 to report the shooting about 5:20 a.m. that morning. Bradford operates Bradford Gravel on the Waterway Road.

Baggette said a bulldozer was parked along the road. Footprints and shell casings were found behind it. Lawmen believe the killers hid behind the dozer and ambushed Dixon as he drove by. Shots were fired through the windshield and the side of the truck into the cab.

Dixon was found outside of the truck, on the driver’s side, on the ground, “kind of on his back,” Baggette said. His open wallet was beside him and there was no cash in it. Credit cards and other items were undisturbed. Lawmen could not initially find Dixon’s cell phone but called it and would find it 50 to 75 yards away in the woods where it had apparently been thrown.

Jackson Police Officer Lee Hutto was the first to arrive. Testimony would reveal that he found the truck crashed into an embankment or woods with the motor running and the back tires spinning. He turned the switch off and secured the site.

The casings and projectiles found at the scene and in the truck indicated 9mm and 10mm handguns were used. Baggette said the 10mm was not a commonly used weapon in a crime.

Dixon suffered wounds to his face, shoulder, side and hip.

K-9 units were called and the dogs followed a scent out Waterway Road to the Walker Springs Road and down the road where it was lost. Baggette suspected they either got into a vehicle and left or were picked up by someone.

The weapons, as well as the vehicle that Edmond and Taylor were driving, plus cell phone records, helped to identify them as suspects.

They were driving a white Chevrolet Impala that belonged to someone else. Cell phone records and Jackson street surveillance cameras document the vehicle early the morning of the murder, going out the Depot Road toward the Gainestown Road. The road makes a loop and comes back along the Walker Springs Road. Additionally, there are roads along the way that cut through to the Walker Springs Road.

Cell phone records also tracked along the route and near the murder scene.

The two were arrested in Montgomery a day after the murder, on Jan. 29. They reportedly robbed a Dollar General store and kidnapped a person at gunpoint. Later they robbed a person at a credit union in Montgomery. Police encountered the group and a car chase resulted with the suspects crashing into a police vehicle. They fled on foot but were captured.

The car was impounded by Montgomery Police but was turned over to local lawmen and brought back to Clarke County.

A Glock 10mm handgun was recovered from the car. Shell casings and projectiles found at the scene matched to the gun, according to forensic tests.

The 9mm gun has not been relocated but firings found at the murder scene and the scene of a New Year’s Eve robbery indicated the same weapon was used at both.

Glenn McDonald was shot and wounded in an early morning robbery at his store, J & M Grocery, on the Gainestown Road just outside of Jackson on Dec. 31 by a masked assailant.

A magazine for a 9mm and ammo and part of an ammo box were found in the Impala.

The treads on Nikki’s shoes found in the trunk of the car were consistent with tracks found at the murder scene. Another pair of shoes also had mud on them with tracks consistent with those at the scene.

Evidence of blood was also found on the inside passenger door arm rest.

A lot of this evidence has been sent to the FBI in Quantico, Va. for verification but has not been analyzed or returned.

One of the four defense attorneys questioned Baggette about early reports of two white men in the area who could have been suspects. Edmond and Taylor are black. Baggette said that was investigated but could not be substantiated. Both of the suspects wore hoodies.

Judge Morgan ruled from the bench that there was enough evidence to send the case on to a grand jury and ordered Edmond and Taylor to remain jailed without bond.

https://www.thethomasvilletimes.com/...to-grand-jury/