A 29-year-old man stabbed the boyfriend of the host of a Thanksgiving party nine times after consuming numerous alcoholic drinks, prosecutors told a judge on Sunday.
The alleged attacker, James Dixon, had a heated argument with the host’s boyfriend at the end of the party when he began digging into the leftover food with his bare hands, authorities said during a bail hearing broadcast on YouTube.
Dixon was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing that occurred around 3:15 a.m. Friday in the 6800 block of South Talman Avenue in the Marquette Park neighborhood, police said.
Killed was Vincell Jackson, of Chicago’s Gresham neighborhood, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Police said the victim was 52. Health officials had recently asked people to refrain from attending large holiday gatherings and to continue proper sanitation during the pandemic.
During the bail hearing, where Judge Susana Ortiz ordered Dixon held on $350,000 bail, prosecutors said the host became alarmed by Dixon’s act and that Jackson forcefully escorted him to the home’s front door.
During this time, Dixon sucker-punched the older man and the fight moved to the home’s front porch, Assistant State’s Attorney Susie Bucaro told the judge.
Despite numerous witnesses to the fight, no one witnessed the stabbing. Jackson was last seen alive on top of Dixon asking that someone call 911, according to prosecutors. When a witness returned to the porch, they saw Dixon running away and the mortally wounded victim keeling over a banister, Bucaro said.
The victim suffered nine stab wounds, including several to his head, face and left arm, authorities said. He was taken to Holy Cross Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy confirmed that Jackson died of multiple stab wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Dixon was arrested about eight hours later in possession of multiple knives, including one covered in blood, Bucaro told the court. He suffered only a minor cut to his hand consistent with an injury during a stabbing, she added.
Dixon’s court-appointed attorney, Patrick Ryan, pushed back, saying his client had a valid self-defense claim and suffered several wounds to his body protecting himself. But Bucaro countered that several attendees called Dixon the aggressor, with the victim calling for law enforcement help.
Judge Ortiz said prosecutors hadn’t met the burden of proof to keep Dixon in custody without bail pending trial, but citing his felony background, which included an arson conviction, she ordered the high bail in combination with house arrest if the Walmart stock worker with three prior felonies posts the required $35,000.
“I was just asking, how much does the case carry,” Dixon asked the judge before he was escorted away.
“First-degree murder from 20 to 60 years, sir,” Ortiz said, adding that was a topic for his attorneys in coming days.
Dixon is scheduled to return to court later this week.
[via Chicago Tribune]