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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Cops: Dwight Dixon, Harrison's accuser, is dead

Dwight Dixon

Dwight Dixon, the local guy who claimed that he had been shot in the hand last year by NFL star Marvin Harrison, died on Friday.
Dixon, 33, never regained consciousness after he was riddled with seven bullets in Fairmount on July 21. That case remains unsolved, while charges were never filed in last year’s shooting.
A police source said that Dixon died Friday at 3:17 a.m. at Hahnemann University Hospital from “multiple injuries” caused by the gunshot wounds.
His death adds a sad twist to a story that generated national headlines and was marred by a seemingly endless array of contradictions.
“It’s a shame. My heart goes out to his family,” said attorney Robert Gamburg, who represented Dixon in a civil lawsuit that was filed against Harrison last fall.
“He was a good man. I know he’ll be missed by his family and friends.
“He was a very honest person who made some mistakes in his life and was in the process of moving on until he got caught up in something he didn’t want to be caught up in,” Gamburg said.
Dixon, who grew up with Harrison in North Philadelphia, claimed that the former Indianapolis Colts wide receiver shot him after the two had a fistfight on Thompson Street near 25th, in North Philadelphia, on April 28, 2008.
Another man, Robert Nixon, claimed that he had also been wounded trying to flee the scene. Nixon filed a civil suit against Harrison earlier this summer.
Ballistics evidence proved that at least five shots had been fired that night from a Belgian-made handgun that Harrison owns.
Despite the evidence — and Harrison’s admission to police that he was involved in the fistfight — District Attorney Lynne Abraham decided earlier this year not to press charges against Harrison.
She said that Harrison, Dixon, Nixon and others provided investigators with multiple false and contradictory statements about the incident.
Dixon was charged with making false reports to police and other offenses and was scheduled to appear in court today, according to court records.
Abraham, meanwhile, didn’t rule out bringing charges against Harrison down the road, pending the results of his civil suit.
Dixon told the Daily News in January that he initially lied to police about being shot by Harrison, “because I was scared for my life and for my family. I was worried. [Harrison] is well-connected, he has money and he has fame.”
Gamburg said yesterday that he is unsure if he will still follow through with the civil lawsuit against Harrison.
“We’re going to weigh our options,” he said. “His death certainly leaves a lot up to speculation.”
Dixon was gunned down in front of a Valu-Plus on Girard Avenue near 28th Street on July 21. The shooting occurred two blocks north of Playmakers, a club owned by Harrison.
A police source previously told the Daily News that Dixon told a police officer who responded to the shooting that he believed the gunman had been hired by Harrison.
Harrison’s attorney, Jerome Brown, declined to comment about the allegations at the time.
 
Posted by David Gambacorta @ 11:43 PM  Permalink | 13 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:22 AM, 09/09/2009
    Harrison is obviously untouchable in this town.
    — Barbouze
  • Comment removed.
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:33 AM, 09/09/2009
    How convenient. Wouldn't be surprised if harrison was behind the shooting which killed this guy.
    — Einstein
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:34 AM, 09/09/2009
    How convenient. Wouldn't be surprised if harrison was behind the shooting which killed this guy.
    — Einstein
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:44 AM, 09/09/2009
    Harrison's "second chance".
    — Earl J
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:46 AM, 09/09/2009
    Another model citizen - who according to his attorney was "a very honest person who made some mistakes in his life and was in the process of moving on until he got caught up in something he didn’t want to be caught up in", yeah right.
    — mikeyg
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:48 AM, 09/09/2009
    Call Andy Reid and Jeff Lurie. Harrison just needs a fresh start at the NFL alternate day sentencing camp.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:51 AM, 09/09/2009
    Harrison's club Playmaker's needs to be investigated by the Public Nuisance Task Force. They'll find plenty of cause to close it down if the look.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:53 AM, 09/09/2009
    Another reason to just say no to the NFL anymore. National Felon League.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:31 PM, 09/09/2009
    Wow. Rip dude. But why everytime one of these get shot they always say they were getting their life together.
    — usand7kids
  • Comment removed.


13 comments
About The PhillyConfidential team

Dana DiFilippo has covered murder, mayhem and miscellany at the Daily News since 2000. She grew up in Delaware County and studied journalism and photography at Penn State University. E-mail tips to difilid@phillynews.com.

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Stephanie Farr has been reporting for the Daily News since 2007, covering everything from gay porn stars who entered the burglary business to moon trees, skinheads, murders and naked bike rides. She covers crime, both in the city and suburbs, and keeps clippings of bizarre Associated Press articles. Her favorite this year was the story about the drunk in Punxsutawney who gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dead opossum. E-mail tips to farrs@phillynews.com.

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Phillip Lucas joined the Daily News crime team in 2011. He grew up on the mean streets of Seattle and studied journalism and psychology at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Before landing in the City of Brotherly Love, Phillip was a reporter for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del. Email tips to lucasp@phillynews.com.

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Morgan Zalot is the newest crime reporter at the Daily News, starting in 2011 after interning at the paper twice as a Temple University journalism student. In her past stints at the DN, she covered just about everything, from drunken Phillies fans to a barber shop in a high school to a grisly murder-suicide. She’s a born-and-raised Philly girl who grew up in the Northeast. E-mail tips to zalotm@philly.com.

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