Guilty Plea in Baby Shower Slaying

Landover Man Shot Sister, Her Boyfriend at Family Event

In a plea agreement yesterday, a Landover man admitted wounding his sister and fatally shooting her boyfriend last year outside a recreation center in Prince George's County where they and others had gathered for a baby shower.

Erik K. Dixon, 26, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, first-degree assault and use of a handgun in a crime of violence in the killing of Jerrod A. Falls, 31, and the shooting of Lakeshia Dixon, 32.

Under the terms of the plea deal, Erik Dixon is expected to be sentenced to 60 years in prison, said Ramon V. Korionoff, a spokesman for State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey. Circuit Court Judge Toni E. Clarke scheduled sentencing for June 13.

The shooting occurred about 7 p.m. April 14, 2007, outside the Woodlawn Recreation Center in the Landover Hills area, police charging documents say. The shower was for Falls's sister, according to relatives and the charging documents.

According to a statement of facts read into the court record yesterday as part of the plea agreement, Falls, Lakeshia Dixon and Erik Dixon had an argument after the shower about whether to attend another social function.

If the case had gone to trial, state witnesses would have testified that Erik Dixon pulled out a handgun and began firing toward Falls and Lakeshia Dixon, according to the factual summary.

The witnesses would have testified that Erik Dixon chased and fired at Falls, stating, "I'm going to kill him," the summary says. Nine shell casings from a .45-caliber pistol were collected at the crime scene, it says.

Prosecutors had evidence that the gun had been purchased less than three months earlier by a woman who was Erik Dixon's girlfriend at the time, according to the summary. The woman, who has not been charged, purchased the handgun from Realco, a gun dealer in District Heights, at Erik Dixon's request, the summary says.