On a Tuesday evening, February 11, 2020, in Kingston, New York, the life of 31-year-old Ashley Stephan Dixon was cut short by gun violence. At approximately 7:30 p.m., police responded to calls of shots fired at the Colonial Village apartment complex on Sheehan Court. Upon arrival, they discovered Dixon with multiple gunshot wounds. He was quickly transported to HealthAlliance Hospital's Broadway Campus, but tragically, he was pronounced dead.
The investigation into the shooting led
authorities to identify a suspect, Cory Q. Smith, a 35-year-old resident of both the Bronx and Kingston. According to police, a verbal dispute between Smith and Dixon escalated, resulting in Smith allegedly shooting Dixon three times. Following the incident, Smith fled the Kingston area. However, he was taken into custody in the Bronx the next day on a federal probation violation.
In the weeks that followed, an Ulster County grand jury handed up an indictment against Smith. On March 20, 2020, the Kingston Police Department and the Ulster County District Attorney's Office announced that Smith had been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Ashley Dixon. Smith had a prior criminal record, including convictions for cocaine sales and weapons charges from a 2006 arrest that led to a 10-year prison sentence.
