Life sentence given in killing in parking lot of the Palms

Friday, Jan. 28, 2005 | 9:54 a.m.

A 30-year-old boxing promoter wept Thursday as District Judge Michelle Leavitt sentenced him to 20 years to life in prison for killing a man in the parking lot of the Palms in November 2003.

Frederic Dixon shot 36-year-old Derrick Nunley several times while Nunley was in his car trying to flee, prosecutors said.

Leavitt sentenced Dixon to 10 years to life in prison and an equal consecutive term of 10 years to life for using a deadly weapon.

A Clark County jury convicted Dixon on Oct. 29 for the killing, which was the result of trouble that started around 6 a.m. at the nightclub Seven, on the Strip at Harmon Avenue the day of the murder.

Prosecutors said in the parking lot of the club, Dixon's friend, Rosemary Jones, backed her car into Nunley, hitting him in the legs. An argument ensued between Nunley and Dixon, but security guards from Seven broke it up and everyone left.

The two men met up again in the parking lot of the Palms, where Dixon parked his Cadillac Escalade SUV illegally in a handicapped spot, and Nunley parked his Mercedes legally about 80 feet away.

Prosecutors said Dixon and Nunley began screaming at each other as they entered the casino. Security guards moved them into the parking lot. Dixon then punched one of Nunley's friends and 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.

Dixon claimed he had acted in self-defense.