Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Richard Dixon was convicted of murder and other crimes for a June 2022 shooting in Ozone Park that led to the death of his accomplice, Raymond Francis, instead of the individual he was pursuing. The incident also resulted in multiple gun injuries to the two intended victims. The defendant and the fist intended victim grew up together in adjacent warring neighborhoods in the country of Jamaica.

District Attorney Katz said: “The defendant unleashed a hail of bullets using a military grade assault weapon in a deliberate attempt to kill, only to fatally strike his own accomplice in the chaos he created. This conviction holds Richard Dixon accountable for the deadly consequences of his violent actions.”

Dixon, 35, of Jamaica, was convicted yesterday of murder in the second degree, attempted murder in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

Trial openings took place on April 14 and closings on May 11. The jury deliberated for under an hour before reaching a verdict. Queens Acting Supreme Court Justice Gia Morris ordered the defendant to return to court on June 15 to face a sentence of up to 75 years to life in prison.

According to the charges and trial testimony, on June 19, 2022, at approximately 5 a.m., Dixon and Francis walked into a parking lot off Cross Bay Boulevard in Ozone Park. Dixon was holding an AR-style assault weapon and Francis had a .40-caliber pistol.

The pair approached their two intended targets who had just left a party and were waiting by their respective vehicles because another car was blocking them from leaving.

Dixon pointed the assault weapon at one of the victims and shot him in the face, taking off approximately half of his jaw. Dixon continued following and firing mercilessly at the victim as he attempted to crawl for his life behind his car.

The second victim then took out a registered 9 mm pistol and began firing at Dixon. Dixon fired back at the second victim who fell backward into his own car. Dixon immediately fired again in the direction where the second victim had been standing. That bullet, however, struck and ultimately killed his accomplice instead.

Dixon fled from the scene in a vehicle later determined to be registered to his wife.

Following the shootout, emergency responders found 38-year-old Francis unresponsive and collapsed atop his .40-caliber pistol. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital from a gunshot wound to his lower abdomen.

The first intended victim, who suffered extensive gunshot injuries to his face and upper back, was also taken to a different hospital for emergency treatment. The second victim was taken to a third hospital for treatment of four gunshot wounds to his leg.

Dixon showed up at a Nassau County hospital seeking attention for multiple gunshot injuries, including to the leg, groin, buttocks and knee. He made a false report as having been shot in Baisley Pond Park. The NYPD detectives who initially interviewed the defendant quickly determined that no shooting took place in Baisley Pond Park that day.

The investigators re-interviewed Dixon at which point the defendant admitted to having been shot on Cross Bay Boulevard in Ozone Park. Based upon additional investigation involving the defendant’s cell phone and vehicle, Dixon was determined to be the shooter.

Assistant District Attorney Eric Weinstein, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Alexa M. Moreno of the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Bureau, are prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney John Kosinski, Bureau Chief, Karen Ross and Jonathan Selkowe, Deputy Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.