In the early morning hours of May 5, 2022, violence erupted in the Fairground neighborhood of Saint Louis, Missouri, claiming the life of 25-year-old female Arriell Dixon. Shortly before 1:00 a.m., Dixon was in the 4200 block of Obear Avenue, north of Fairground Park, when she was critically wounded by gunfire. Despite suffering gunshot wounds to her neck and arm, she managed to place a desperate call to 911.
In her final moments, she provided dispatchers with a crucial description of the shooter and the vehicle he was using to flee the scene, a white Nissan sedan. First responders arrived to find her lying on the sidewalk, but she succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead at the location shortly thereafter.
Homicide detectives immediately began an investigation, leveraging the information Dixon had provided before her death. Surveillance footage from the area corroborated her account, capturing a white Nissan parking on the street minutes before the shooting and driving away shortly after the shots were fired. Investigators traced the vehicle’s temporary license plate and a cellphone number associated with the car's sale to a suspect. Location data from the cellphone placed the device in the area of Obear Avenue at the time of the murder, providing authorities with the evidence needed to link the crime to a specific individual.
Police arrested Graylon Lindsey, a 22-year-old man, in connection with the shooting. The investigation revealed that the weapon and vehicle used in Dixon's death were also linked to another fatal shooting just over a week later, involving a 16-year-old girl in south St. Louis. Lindsey was initially charged by the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. As the legal proceedings advanced, the evidence gathered—including the victim's own dying declaration recorded by emergency dispatchers—solidified the case against him.
In March 2024, nearly two years after the violent spree, the case concluded without a trial. Graylon Lindsey appeared in the 22nd Circuit Court and entered a guilty plea to two counts of second-degree murder, admitting to killing both Arriell Dixon and the teenager. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dropped the armed criminal action charges and amended the murder charges from first to second degree. Lindsey was subsequently sentenced to serve concurrent life terms in the Missouri Department of Corrections for his crimes.
