CHRISTIAN and MICHAEL, JR DIXON - 5 yo and 16 months (2009)/ charged: Mother; Latonya Ann Dixon - Los Angeles CA

Authorities in Los Angeles say a woman
shot her two young sons, killing a 5-year-old boy and critically
wounding his 1-year-old brother.

Los Angeles police Officer Norma Eisenman says the 25-year-old woman called
911 Saturday morning and told a dispatcher that she had killed her
children.

When police arrived at the apartment complex in South Los Angeles, the woman was standing on a
second floor balcony waving a handgun and telling officers to shoot
her. Officers managed to disarm the woman and she was arrested. Her
name has not been released.

The 5-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene. The younger boy was shot multiple times and has been hospitalized.

An apparently suicidal Los Angeles woman
is in custody after allegedly shooting her five-year-old son to death,
and gravely wounding his one-year-old brother (the two boys are shown
in the photos below).

La Tonya Dixon, 25, was disarmed and arrested by police at her
apartment in the 7800 block of Gramercy Place on Saturday, after
calling 911 to report that she'd shot her children about an hour
earlier.

Arriving officers said Dixon was on the walkway of her second-floor
apartment and waving a gun around, asking police to shoot her. At one
point, she appeared ready to jump off the walkway.
"I've wasted my life!" she was quoted as saying.
Police talked to her for a while, got her to put down the gun, and
then rushed her. The children were found in the living room of the
apartment.
Neighbor Danielle Jones, 17, told the Los Angeles Times that Dixon,
who went by Tonya, would sometimes talk to herself and that about 4:30
a.m. Saturday, she heard her yelling "I'm tired. I'm tired."
Jones said Dixon walked her always-smiling oldest son, named
Christian, to school every day with the baby in tow. Jones' 2-year-old
son would play with the toddler, but Jones said she hadn't seen them
outside for about a month.
"She closed the doors, and it would be all dark," she told the
paper. "She was a wonderful mom. She was a wonderful mom. I just don't
know what happened."
The younger boy, named Michael, was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center with more than one bullet wound and some reports said he was not
expected to survive.

Local activists Earl Ofari Hutchinson and Eddie Jones urged child
welfare authorities to investigate what could have been done to prevent
the shootings, and called for an effort to identify at-risk families.
"There are many families in South L.A. who are undergoing major
stresses from personal and financial hardship," Hutchinson said. "This
places many children at dire risk."
Neighbors said Dixon had lived in the one-bedroom apartment for several years.

A young mother who allegedly shot her two boys Saturday — killing
her 5-year-old and critically wounding her 1-year-old — shouted “I’ve
wasted my life!” from her balcony and threatened to kill herself before
she was arrested, police and neighbors said.
LaTonya Dixon, 25, called 911 about 8:30 a.m. Saturday and told the
dispatcher that she had killed her children. When officers arrived at
the three-unit apartment complex in South Los Angeles, the woman was
standing on a second floor balcony waving a handgun.
After hearing a woman scream, neighbor Sandra Jones said she saw
Dixon on the balcony rail and yelled out, “No, don’t jump! You have
[your son] and the baby to think about! They’re going to need you.”
As officers arrived at the beige stucco apartment, Dixon told police
to shoot her. She was walking in and out of her apartment with a
handgun. Officers ordered her numerous times to drop the gun, but she
refused.
At one point she climbed on the balcony rail and stood on it for a
while, as if preparing to jump, said Los Angeles Police Department
Capt. Fabian Lizarraga.
Police finally talked her into placing the gun on the balcony floor
and officers, sneaking up a side stairwell, quickly tackled and
arrested her, Lizarraga said.
Inside the living room they found the two boys with gunshot wounds.
Both were taken to the hospital. The 5-year-old, identified by the Los
Angeles County Coroner’s Office as Christian Dixon, was pronounced dead
at the hospital.
The 1-year-old suffered multiple gunshot wounds and is in critical condition, police said. The child’s name was not released.
LaTonya Dixon and her two sons were regular fixtures in the
neighborhood where she had lived for the past several years in a
one-bedroom apartment.
“She was just sweet as pie. When she first saw me, she said ‘Hi,
Momma!’” said Sandra Jones, who has lived in the neighborhood for about
10 years.
Danielle Jones, 17, whose 2-year-old son would play with LaTonya
Dixon’s 1-year-old, said she hadn’t seen them outside for about a month.
At 4:30 a.m. Saturday, Danielle Jones said she heard LaTonya Dixon’s
voice, but she was known to talk to herself. About 8 a.m., though, she
heard gunshots.

L.A. Mom Charged With Killing 2 Young Sons
KTLA News
6:40 p.m. PDT, October 26, 2009


LOS ANGELES -- A mother faces capital murder charges for allegedly killing her two young sons.

Prosecutors said Monday that Latonya Ann Dixon is charged with two counts of murder, assault on a child and an allegation of using a firearm.

The charges include special circumstance allegations of multiple murders.

Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.

Dixon is in custody on more than $3 million bail.

The 26-year old called 911on October 17 and told a dispatcher she had killed her children, according to Los Angeles Police Officer Norma Eisenman of the Media Relations Section.

When police arrived at the apartment complex in the 7200 block of Gramercy Place, Dixon was standing on a second floor balcony waving a handgun and telling officers to shoot her, police said.

She reportedly shouted, "I've wasted my life," and at one point climbed onto the balcony rail as if preparing to jump.

When she eventually put the gun down, officers quickly tackled Dixon and arrested her. She wasn't injured, according to police.

The 5-year-old, named Christian, was declared dead at the scene.

The younger boy was shot multiple times. He was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with more than one bullet wound.

He later died.

It was unclear if the father of the boy was around.

Also unclear was what motivated the shootings.

Neighbors said Dixon had lived in her one-bedroom apartment for several years.

Neighbor Danielle Jones, 17, told the Los Angeles Times that Dixon would sometimes talk to herself and that about 4:30 a.m. Saturday she heard her yelling, "I'm tired. I'm tired."

Dixon walked her older son to school every day, with the toddler in tow, according to Jones.

Jones said her 2-year-old son would often play with the toddler, but she hadn't seen them outside for about a month.

"She was a wonderful mom. She was a wonderful mom. I just don't know what happened," Jones said.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-gramercy-standoff,0,3624329.story

Murder was the Case: LA Homicide No. 253, Woman Charged With Murdering Second Son
By Christine Pelisek, Mon., Oct. 26 2009 @ 5:04PM




A woman already accused of killing her 5-year-old son was charged today with a second count of murder involving her 16-month-old son. Michael Dixon, Jr., who was shot multiple times last week by his mother La Tonya Ann Dixon, died October 23 after being taken off life support.
Los Angeles County Prosecutors also added a second charge of assault on a child causing death as well as a special circumstance allegation of multiple murder that makes the 26-year-old mother eligible for the death penalty.



CBS2
Murder Victim: Christian Dixon
​Dixon is charged with killing her 5-year-old son, Christian, and toddler, Michael, at her
apartment in the 7800 block of Gramercy Place about 8:30 a.m. Oct. 17, about 30 minutes after calling 911 to report that she had shot her kids. Patrol officers said Dixon was standing on her second floor balcony and waving a gun around. She asked police to shoot her. She was quoted as saying: "I've wasted my life!''
Police were able to get her to put the gun down, before they rushed her. Police found the children in the living room of the one-bedroom apartment. One neighbor told the LA Times that Dixon was heard around 4:30 a.m. yelling "I'm tired. I'm tired.''

Dixon is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 2 at the criminal court building in downtown Los Angeles. Anyone with information should contact LAPD's Abused Child Unit at 213-486-0570.

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