Post by Scumhunter on Nov 22, 2024 10:06:19 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: ohioattorneygeneral.gov)
From cleveland19.com:
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - An unsolved murder case in Cleveland is getting fresh eyes from BCI, but investigators still need your help to bring his family answers.
Ryan Dixon missed another birthday this week.
19 Investigates spoke with his mom and the special agent working on his case.
Ryan, 22, was a young father living in Middleburg Heights with so much to look forward to.
But his life was cut short.
“What I can tell you is that I miss him every day,” said his mom Danita White.
“I miss him so much, all the time,” she said.
Someone shot and killed Ryan inside his car at E. 61st Street and Griswold Avenue in Cleveland on January 11, 2016.
His mom said three other people were with him in the car when several guys walked up and started shooting at him.
After that, Danita’s world fell apart.
“I love him and I’m literally walking around the earth without a literal piece of me,” she said.
Ryan was the second oldest of four brothers.
He was originally from Kansas.
Danita said he always championed the underdog.
His daughter was just six weeks old when he died and he had a two-year-old son.
“You know, he wasn’t a perfect human. None of us are. But he was, he had the biggest heart. Oh my goodness, he had the biggest heart and when he loved you, oh my goodness, he loved you,” White said.
Danita taught English at Cuyahoga Community College’s Metro Campus not far from where Ryan was murdered.
He had just finished his first semester there.
“When you’re 22, you think you’re invincible. So didn’t matter how many times I said, ‘please don’t go here, please don’t go there. Don’t associate with--’ you know, you’re 22, think you’re invincible. And you’re not,” she said.
Danita worried about her son in a part of the city she got to know well through her students.
“I think it’s an absolute shame that in this country and cities like Cleveland and countless others, that just being Black and male already puts you at risk,” she said.
She believes he may have been set up for robbery.
“My heart goes out to Cleveland Homicide still to this day. When you’re given an impossible job and you still go to work every day. Those are heroes too,” she said.
BCI investigation
Ryan’s case is now in the hands of Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation after Cleveland Police requested their assistance with the case back in 2021.
BCI is also working on two other unsolved homicides CPD requested assistance with at the time, the cases of Aliza Sherman and Stephen Halton Jr.
“BCI can do the deep down, investigative work that a large agency like Cleveland, although they want to, they have to move onto the next crime,” said Special Agent Lindsay Mussell.
She told us witnesses to Ryan’s murder cooperated with police at the time.
“There are indications that this was not just done by one person,” Mussell said.
“Ryan had been driving, and multiple people participated in Ryan’s death,” she said.
They’re combing through evidence in this case, including DNA, interviews with people around the area and inmate interviews.
They’re also looking into digital evidence like social media.
Special Agent Mussell couldn’t answer for us whether Ryan was targeted or it was a robbery.
“I don’t believe it was random, I guess I can tell you that,” she said.
We asked her if she believes this case is solvable.
“I do, I believe any case that comes to us we are going to work to our fullest ability,” Mussell said.
Ryan’s legacy
For Danita, it’s the toughest stretch of the year, from Ryan’s birthday to the holidays to January when he lost his life.
She now lives in Chicago where she works at another college.
We asked her if somebody knows something, what she would say to them.
“I don’t know. It’s tough, right? I just don’t want someone to have to risk their life. As much as I want them to come forward. I just that’s a really difficult situation,” White said.
“And what I will say too, is to the people who did it is-- you know God is always watching and so you can run, you can hide, but God knows,” she said.
We asked her what she thinks Ryan’s legacy is.
“I think Ryan’s legacy is that God grew my heart,” White said.
“I had a big heart to begin with, but I just think my heart has grown exponentially for people. I think I have clarity about things that had not been for what we’ve been through with the loss of Ryan. I don’t know that I would have had the same amount of empathy and the same amount of understanding about certain things,” she said.
She also told us Ryan’s niece, who was born after he died, was named after him.
Call with any information
Ryan would have turned 31 years old this past Wednesday.
His family is still seeking justice.
Can you help investigators solve this case?
There’s a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to the arrest and indictment of anyone responsible for Ryan’s murder.
If you have any information, call Ohio BCI at 855-BCI-OHIO or Cuyahoga County Crime Stoppers with anonymous tips at 216-252-7463. You can also submit tips online at 25 crime.com and download their mobile app.
www.cleveland19.com/2024/11/15/seeking-justice-middleburg-heights-fathers-homicide-still-unsolved-8-years-later/
Additional relevant links:
www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Law-Enforcement/Investigator/Cold-Case/Homicides/Dixon-(3)
unsolved.com/event-posts/was-more-than-one-person-responsible-for-the-murder-of-ryan-dixon/
Thoughts? I am placing Ryan’s case in the national media section due to Unsolved Mysteries posting a link to the above news story on his case on their “In The News” archive section of their website.
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