#16: Man chased down and killed victim while on electronic monitoring for gun case, prosecutors say

A man who was on home electronic monitoring for a gun charge shot and killed another man on a Far South Side street earlier this month, prosecutors said Sunday. Semaj Dixon, 21, is the 16th person charged with killing, trying to kill, or shooting someone in Chicago this year while on bond for another felony case.

Back on October 8, prosecutors charged Dixon with Class X felony armed habitual criminal, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon with a previous felony conviction, criminal trespass to vehicle, and possessing a high-capacity ammunition magazine. Judge Arthur Willis allowed Dixon, a seven-time convicted felon, to go home on electronic monitoring by posting a $500 deposit, court records show.

On the afternoon of April 5, Dixon was wearing his GPS-equipped electronic monitoring bracelet when he and another gunman chased a man down into the 12000 block of South Lowe and shot him eleven times, prosecutors said. Dixon lives on the same block where the murder took place, according to CPD.

Prosecutors said the victim tripped as he ran from the two gunmen, who then fired 18 shots as he curled up in a fetal position. Eleven of the bullets struck the man. According to prosecutors, witnesses who reported seeing two men standing over the fallen victim and firing into his body identified Dixon in surveillance images and a photo line-up.

Surveillance footage captured the shooting and showed Dixon’s movements before and after the murder, prosecutors said. GPS signals from his ankle monitor allegedly align with his movement as seen on video.

When Cook County Sheriff’s Police arrested Dixon after the shooting for escaping from electronic monitoring, he was still wearing the same pants and shoes that one gunman was seen wearing in the surveillance video, prosecutors said. Gunshot residue was allegedly found on his pants.

During a bond court hearing on the escape charge earlier this month, Dixon’s attorney argued that he had been at a workplace in the suburbs where he was allowed to go as part of his release. But a prosecutor countered that GPS tracking showed that he went nowhere near the suburbs.

The defense attorney further argued that Dixon had to leave his home because it wasn’t safe since someone had been murdered outside his home. It turns out that Dixon is now charged with that murder.

Sheriff’s police said they found $9,000 in Dixon’s possession when they arrested him in a car after the murder. His attorney said he had the money because someone threw Molotov cocktails into his house and he had to rescue the cash.

Judge David Navarro on Sunday ordered Dixon held without bail on the murder charge and held without bail for violating the terms of release in his pending gun case.

Related reporting