Matthew Joseph Johnson

In the late summer of 2024, the body of Matthew Joseph Johnson, a 41-year-old White man from Connersville, Indiana, was found in Fort Wayne. On September 20, community volunteers cleaning the St. Marys River discovered his remains, along with those of 40-year-old Christina Michelle Dixon, also of Connersville. The bodies had been placed in trash bags and left in the river near the Guldlin Park boat ramp.

An autopsy by the Allen County Coroner’s Office determined that Matthew had died from gunshot and stab wounds. Dixon’s death was caused by strangulation and suffocation. Both deaths were officially ruled homicides. The couple had been reported missing to the Richmond Police Department on September 19, the day before they were found. Dixon was last seen by her 9-year-old son getting into a car with Matthew in Richmond, telling the boy she would be back soon. Shortly after, both of their phones were turned off.

The investigation quickly led police to Dominique M. Washington, a 29-year-old man from Richmond. Authorities believe Washington lured the pair into a vehicle in Richmond, forced them to turn off their phones, and killed them before disposing of their bodies in Fort Wayne. On September 23, a team of Fort Wayne and Richmond police, along with an Indiana State Police SWAT team, arrested Washington at his home.

Washington was charged with two counts of murder, felony murder, and kidnapping, and was held in the Allen County Jail without bond. Although the bodies were found in Fort Wayne, investigators later determined that the murders had occurred outside of Allen County. As a result, the deaths were excluded from the county's official homicide count for 2024. The Allen County Prosecutor stated that the case could still be tried there because the victims were discovered within the county's jurisdiction.

Initial court documents filed by police suggested that Matthew and Dixon were acting as confidential informants who had recently assisted the Richmond Police Department in a large drug seizure. However, the department later issued a public statement calling this information "incorrect" and clarifying that neither victim was serving as an informant at the time of their deaths.

In court, Dominique Washington invoked his right to a speedy trial. As of November 2024, his trial was scheduled to begin on December 3, 2024, in Allen Superior Court 5.