After 2 years since the horrific death of Ms. Dorothy Dixon, justice for her and her unborn child is finally slouching towards reality.
Michelle Riley, one of the fiends who tortured and murdered Dorothy Dixon and her unborn child, received 45 years in prison.
Forty-five years.
Forty-five years is a slap on the wrist for what this lowlife and her accomplices did to Dorothy.
One down. . . .
. . . .four more to go.
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From left to right: Judy E. Woods, Riley, Michael Elliot, Leshelle McBride and Benny Wilson. Riley’s 12-year-old son, a juvenile, received probation for his part in the sadistic crime. (Mugshots courtesy of the Alton Police Department.)
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ILLINOIS WOMAN SENTENCED TO 45 YEARS IN TORTURE KILLING
The Associated Press
Friday, February 5, 2010; 6:16 PM
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — An Illinois judge sentenced a woman to 45 years in prison Friday in the torture slaying of a pregnant, developmentally impaired mother, saying the beatings, scalds and gunshot wounds she suffered were beyond anything anyone should have to endure.
Madison County Circuit Judge Charles Romani Jr. was not swayed by convict Michelle Riley’s expressions of remorse.
“These were things done to this woman you don’t see done to human beings, let alone animals,” Romani said in handing down his punishment in the January 2008 death of 29-year-old Dorothy Dixon. “This woman suffered, and suffered greatly. No one deserves to be treated like that.”
What Riley and her cohorts inflicted on Dixon, who had been five or six months pregnant when she died, “was brutal and heinous to say the least,” he said.
Riley, 37, told the court, “I’m sorry that I can’t take it back.”
In exchange for Riley’s guilty plea last October to a first-degree murder charge, prosecutors agreed to not push for more than 45 years behind bars. Riley’s public defender, Jon Delaney, had argued that other defendants contributed to Dixon’s demise and pressed for 30 years – the lowest possible sentence under the deal.
Riley, who has three previous felony drug convictions, must serve all of the sentence except for the 700 days Romani credited her for the time she has already spent in jail.
Investigators have said Dixon was abused for weeks, at times beaten with a plunger handle, burned with a hot glue gun and used for target practice with a BB pistol. On Friday, pathologist Raj Nanduri testified that Dixon’s body revealed she had been scalded from head to toe with boiling water and had BB wounds “all over the body,” some infected and others in varying stages of healing.
Dixon also had a “branding-type” of injury on at least one arm, two of her front teeth were missing and presumedly knocked out, and she had cuts on her scalp that “were very deep, all the way to the bone.”
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| FILE – In this file photo released March 13, 2008, by the Alton (Ill.) Police Department is Michelle Riley. Riley, 37, was sentenced to 45 years in prison Friday, Feb. 5, 2010, for the murder of a pregnant, developmentally impaired mother. Police say the victim was beaten, burned and used for target practice.(AP Photo/Alton (Ill.) Police Department, File) | ||||
Nanduri said Dixon died of an accumulation of injuries over time.
“In short, her body just quit because of all the beatings, burnings and pellet wounds?” Mike Stewart, a prosecutor, asked the pathologist, who replied, “Yes.”
Dixon had been five or six months pregnant with a baby boy, Nanduri said.
Jennifer Tierney, a police detective in Alton, Ill., said police found Dixon’s body, clad only in a sweater and covered with towels, in the basement of a house in the city. Police have said Riley and her housemates had banished Dixon and her 1-year-old son to the basement with little more than a thin rug and a mattress on the chilly floor.
Evidence suggested a pot of boiling water was left on the stove almost daily for quick use on Dixon, Tierney said.
Riley was “pretty much considered to be the ringleader,” directing other housemates to take part in the abuse, Tierney testified.
Four other defendants, including three teenagers, await trial on first-degree murder charges. Another defendant, Riley’s now-14-year-old son, has been sentenced as a juvenile to probation.
Tierney said Riley pocketed Dixon’s monthly Social Security checks. Authorities have said Dixon ate what she could forage from the refrigerator upstairs. Riley “basically treated Miss Dixon as a slave in the household,” Tierney testified.
Police say Dixon’s year-old boy weighed just 15 pounds when taken into state custody after his mother’s death.
In arguing for the 45-year sentence, prosecutor Stewart called Riley’s conduct “unconscionable” and pressed that Riley encouraged the torture instead of stopping it. Delaney countered that Riley acknowledges “she made a grave error” and accepts responsibility but didn’t act alone.
Ann
FINALLY! Rest in much peace Dorothy.
Michelle Mcbride was unwed when she had daughter Leshelle Mcbride. Michelle got married and took on the last name Riley. Michelle is half white and half black. The Michelle i knew growing up does not sound like the same person. Leshelle was only 15 when this happened and the son 12. Cmon those kids she not be convicted of any crimes. minors? really? I can see anyone over 18. And even the neighbor. The kids need counsiling. Stability and Love.
Prior to having Lashelle, Michelle had another daughter whom was raised by her grandmother and father in Illinois. I met Michelle when she was 19, we quickly became friends. During our run, she was about self preservation. She did what she felt she needed to do, to survive. She was a hustler, I was a hustler, the relationship worked. Michelle met and married “Dino” Riley and had a son. When I read this article, I was shocked to say the least. Chelle and I hadn’t run together since prior to Dino’s murder, but we had contact a few times after his funeral. Our daughters spent several years as “besties” during their early years. If someone asked me, “do you think Chelle is capable of murder”, My answer would be yes, but only in self defense! What transpired in her life after we lost contact, I don’t know, but for this to have happened I believe she must of been dealing with some mental helath issues. The Chelle I knew back in the early 90′s was a good person who made bad decisions just like the rest of us. I pray Lashelle is able to put this behind her and move on. I pray the same for Darango Jr. as well. Chelle, more than likely with facing 45yrs, you won’t see the light of day. Your past trangsgression annot be erased, but you can make a be redeemed. Turn it over to God, seek his forgiveness and make a difference inothers lives while you serve your time. No matter our sins, “there is no condemnation for those who live not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Holy Spirit!” Amen!
First of all, HOW the hell can you sit there and read about all the SADISTIC crap this “woman” and those other demons have done to this poor HELPLESS woman and her LITTLE BABY and talk about REDEMTION??? are you serious? or are you a screwed in the head SADISTIC like your OLD FRIEND? anyone who feels any amount of sympathy for these SORRY EXCUSES FOR HUMANS are no better themselves. if you had ANY heart in you, you would feel for DOROTHY DIXON and her CHILDREN!
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what about the victim????? 45 years is not enough! this killer lady is a mother!!! which makes it worse that she could encourage the torture and death of another person, especially one that was mentally impaired! at some point people have to stop making excuses for these people. even if these people went to jail for life it is still nothing compared to the pain they inflicted on this innocent lady and her son and unborn child.
Kae1:
I am sorry, but I don;t think you understand the law. If you see someone commiting a crime, and you do nothing to stop it, then you are held responsible for not assisting in the reporting of it. Those kids were not young and without knowledge of wrong and right. That woman and her 2 kids needs justice. Now she has an orphan 1 year old that was robbed of his mother at the hands of these beasts, and no one did anything to assist her day after day of abuse? That is wrong!
I think that brutality as seen in this type of case should be met with the death penalty for the ring leader and anyone else over the age of 18 involved in this long and drawn out abuse of this handicapped woman, her unborn infant and her precious little tot of only a year old. People who commit such vile crimes without remorse are not fit to share the planet with those of us who seemingly have some sense of right and wrong. Albeit, we all have sinful natures, but not all are accused of brutal and hostile crimes against other human beings, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, She was obviously unable to care for herself or her infant. What a terrible life for both of them. This woman should have been monitored by a state authority bc of her mental state. You know she wasn’t receiving prenatal care either. Life long jail for these ‘people’ is too humane, something they didn’t offer to a poor woman without the ability to care for herself or her brood. Sick. And yet, these abusers will get off scott free in jail, living it up, eating three meals a day, having their lives paid for in full. How is that fair or just?
@ TT,
Of course you are responsible for your own actions. I understand when someone is commiting a crime, the consequences of not stopping or reporting the crimes. Lechelle was 14 years old and son Dino was 12. The question is how much time do you think they should have gotten?
Kae1, you’re obviously living in your own world, as is the “old friend” who weighed in above. Turn it over to God? What planet are you from? Even if there was a God, which in my opinion there is not, he wouldn’t forgive Michelle Riley and the rest of these maggots for what they did to this poor woman. I believe the death penalty should be reserved for special cases — only the lowest of the low. This is one of those cases. Nothing positive can come from keeping Michelle Riley on this planet.
Dave,
My concern was expressed towards the children who were approx. 15 and 12 years old.
Dave,
Do you believe a 15 and 12 year old deserve the death penalty?
By the way i go by Kae1 not “an old friend”