Man found guilty in casino parking lot slaying

Molly Ball

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 11:09 a.m.

Frederic Dixon, who claimed self-defense in shooting a man multiple times through the windows of his car in a parking lot at the Palms, was found guilty of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon early today.

The jury returned a verdict around 2:30 a.m. Police reportedly had to be called when Dixon's family made a scene as he was taken into custody.

The prosecutor, Chief Deputy District Attorney Frank Coumou, had told the jury that Dixon's claims of self-defense were all "self-serving statements" by a man who knew he would be caught.

After the shooting, Dixon drove away, then returned to the scene to tell police he had shot the victim in self-defense -- but only because he realized that he couldn't escape responsibility, which had taken place in plain sight in front of several witnesses, Coumou said.

The shooting was also captured by surveillance cameras and a passerby's camcorder.

Derrick Nunley, 36, was killed in the early morning hours of Nov. 14, 2003, after an altercation of mounting intensity that began around 6 a.m. at the Seven club on the Las Vegas Strip.

Dixon's lawyer, John Momot, portrayed Nunley as a hothead who associated with gang members and carried a box cutter knife to assure his manhood was not challenged. Nunley's autopsy found he had marijuana in his system and a blood-alcohol level of 0.15.

Dixon, a 30-year-old Houston resident, was just out to have a good time in Las Vegas with his two younger brothers when the conflict ensued, Momot said.

Nunley and his friends harrassed and stalked Dixon, following them from Seven to the Palms, until Dixon felt he had no choice but to act to protect his family members, Momot said.

"There are like 10 of these hoodlums around him -- he's only there with his two little brothers," Momot said. "They had him surrounded."

Earlier this week jurors heard Dixon's taped statement to police shortly after the shooting. Dixon, who did not testify in his own defense, broke down sobbing as the tape was played and had to leave the courtroom more than once.

On the tape, however, Dixon sounds collected and matter-of-fact. He said he heard Nunley talking on his cell phone, and "he was like we wasn't going to get out of here alive."

Dixon told the homicide detectives that he and his brothers stayed out of trouble and weren't street smart, and they were frightened of Nunley and his friends, who he said flashed gang signs and described themselves as West Coast gangsters.

"I don't know if they going to open fire on us -- I don't know what they going to do," Dixon said. "I knew I couldn't surrender."

But prosecutors said that statement -- and others implying that he felt his masculinity was threatened -- showed the killer's real motive. Dixon wanted to win the fight, not save his own life, they said.

The trouble is said to have started when Dixon's Las Vegas girlfriend bumped into a member of Nunley's crew on the dance floor at Seven, which was hosting a hip-hop night.

Nunley kicked the woman's car in the parking lot, and she hit him with the car. The two groups of men fought verbally, but Seven security kept the conflict from escalating.

Nunley and his group then allegedly followed the Cadillac Escalade SUV carrying Dixon and his brothers to the Palms. In the Palms parking lot, the conflict escalated from a verbal one into a rock-throwing fistfight, with Nunley waving the box cutter.

The defense pointed to witnesses who said Nunley said he would "cut your (Dixon's) face off," while prosecutors cited others who said Nunley merely told Dixon to "back off."

Nunley then retreated to his Mercedes. Dixon went to the Cadillac and retrieved a 9 mm pistol. Nunley was inside his car with the windows rolled up when Dixon fired four shots into the car.

Under Nevada law a person claiming self-defense must have been in a situation where any reasonable person would have felt his life was threatened and force was necessary. However, the law does not require people to retreat from a deadly threat.

Dixon is to be sentenced on Dec. 16. He faces at least 20 years in prison.

Grace Williams, Nunley's mother, said she was gratified by the verdict and hoped Dixon's sentence would be a long one.

"I never wanted him to get the death penalty, because that was too easy," said Williams, who lives in Virginia. "What he did was cold and calculated. He showed no feeling."