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Killer at Auto Zone faces life
By John W. GOODWIN JR.
YOUNGSTOWN
It took a jury of six men and six women little more than one hour to find a Youngstown man guilty of killing a store clerk during a 2006 robbery.
Melvin T. Dixon, 27, of Devon Avenue, had been on trial this week before Judge Lou D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on charges of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery with a gun specification in the death of Edward Agee, 52, of Star Street.
Members of Agee’s family cried and hugged one another after hearing the verdict. Most members of the family hugged Martin Desmond, an assistant county prosecutor, thanking him and saying they are glad to see Dixon heading to prison.
“Justice is done, and I am glad because my family has been through nothing but hell,” said Patricia Cappitte, a sister-in-law.
On May 2, 2006, Agee, a clerk at the Auto Zone store on McCartney Road, was shot and killed when three men wearing Halloween-style masks entered the store as part of a robbery attempt.
After a list of witnesses that included Dixon’s girlfriend and a co-defendant had testified, prosecutors rested their case Thursday morning. The defense did not call Dixon or any witnesses to the stand.
A short time after closing statements, Judge D’Apolito was back in his courtroom reading the verdict — guilty on all three charges. Dixon faces a potential life sentence when he is sentenced after a pre-sentencing investigation.
Dixon sat without expression while the judge read the verdict.
Desmond, during closing statements earlier in the day, said the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Dixon was the shooter inside the Auto Zone store.
He said witnesses such as the girlfriend, co-defendant Jamaad Jackson, who detailed how Dixon shot Agee, and reported friend John Patterson, who told the court Dixon confessed to him his part in the crime, were credible in their testimony.
“You may not like Jamaad Jackson. You may not like John Patterson. But what they said was the truth,” Desmond said.
Defense lawyer James Gentile, representing Dixon, told jurors during his summation that Agee’s murder is sad and tragic, but, he said, it would be equally sad and tragic to send the wrong man to prison for the crime.
He said a surveillance tape of the crime should show jurors that Dixon was not the man inside the Auto Zone store.
“This is a one-element case — identity. The identity of the person in that Auto Zone store, that is what is to be decided here today,” he said. “Melvin Dixon has pleaded not guilty in this case because he is saying he is not the one in the video.”
Jackson, 21, of Wychwood Lane, Youngstown, has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter (amended from aggravated murder), aggravated robbery and a gun specification. Prosecutors are recommending a nine-year prison sentence.
Another co-defendant, Reginald Everson, 23, of West Chalmers Avenue, had been charged with murder and aggravated robbery in the case. The murder charge and a gun specification were dropped under a plea agreement.
Everson pleaded guilty to the remaining charge of aggravated robbery. Prosecutors are recommending a sentence of eight to 10 years in prison. Jackson and Everson will be sentenced at a later date.