Murder charge against New Castle man dropped, filed against brother

Staff report

new castle, pa.

New Castle, police have dropped a homicide charge against one man and instead have charged his brother.

James Nixon, 18, of New Castle was charged with homicide in the death of Marcus McCauley, 16, who was found shot to death at 7 a.m. June 23 in Gaston Park by a man walking his dog.

He originally was charged with conspiracy to commit homicide and conspiracy to commit robbery, said New Castle Detective Sgt. Kevin Seelbaugh.

His brother, Chris Nixon, 23, of New Castle was charged with homicide, robbery and aggravated assault.

“We learned later that Chris didn’t have anything to do with the homicide, and we withdrew the charges,” Seelbaugh said.

Seelbaugh said James Nixon is in Mercer County Jail because his brother was in the Lawrence County Jail, and the policy is to separate co-conspirators.

But now that Chris Nixon has been released, James will be brought to Lawrence County, he said.

He will be in county central court for arraignment next month.