5.21.12: Dixon Convicted for Stabbing Another Guest at Crowded High School Alumni Event
May 21, 2012 -- A Baltimore City Circuit Court jury convicted James Dixon last week of second-degree murder for killing another guest at a crowded high school alumni event two years ago.
On August 28, 2010, at approximately 1:04 a.m., Baltimore City police officers responded to a report of a shooting at the Patapsco Arena where nearly 900 people — former Walbrook High School students and their guests — were having a party. Inside the venue, the officers observed a man, Carrington McNutt, lying face up in a pool of blood. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. The investigation revealed that McNutt had not been shot, but rather stabbed and slashed in the neck and stomach.
Out of the 888 people who attended the event and the 25 security guards on duty, only two witnesses came forward. One said that while he did see Dixon making a stabbing motion in the direction McNutt, he did not see a knife. He added that Dixon struck McNutt with a chair several times after the victim had already collapsed to the floor. The second witness claimed to have seen the incident with the chair but not the stabbing. Guests followed Dixon into the parking lot following the attack and directed police to him for arrest. Eight hours later, police located the knife with the victim's blood on it in the parking lot. McNutt's blood was also recovered from one of Dixon's shoes.
Dixon was tried once before, in November 2011, for the killing. The jury returned a not-guilty verdict for the charge of first-degree murder but could not reach a consensus on the charge of second-degree murder, which resulted in a hung jury. The second trial concluded with a guilty verdict on May 16, 2012. Scheduled for sentencing on June 29, 2012, Dixon, 29, faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.
Assistant State's Attorney Angela Worthy prosecuted the case.