A Charleston man charged by federal prosecutors with killing a police informant is expected to plead guilty next week.
Marlon Dewayne "Ice" Dixon, 39, is accused of killing Branda Mae Delight Basham, 21, to prevent her from testifying or continuing to provide information against him to police. Basham's body was found on railroad tracks on the West Side in July 2014.
A plea hearing is set for Nov. 9 in front of U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Johnston in Charleston.
Prosecutors in U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin's office wouldn't say Monday whether the Department of Justice has determined yet whether to seek the death penalty against Dixon. The charges a federal grand jury returned against Dixon last October made him eligible for the death penalty or life in prison, Goodwin has said. It's up to the DOJ to make that determination.
"There is a review process within the DOJ that looks at a number of factors under the indictment," Goodwin said last year.
Charleston attorney John Carr, who represents Dixon, wouldn't comment Monday about the case. In cases where the death penalty is a possibility, a defendant is appointed two attorneys - one of whom should be experienced with handling those types of cases. Claire Cardwell is serving as lead counsel for Dixon because she's from Richmond, Virginia, where the death penalty is used.
West Virginia abolished capital punishment at the state level in 1965, but the federal government can still ask for it.
A seven-count indictment charges Dixon with murder, three counts of distributing heroin, two counts of tampering with a witness by killing her, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to the indictment, Dixon was convicted in federal court of distributing cocaine in 1999 and again in 2006. He was convicted in 2007 of malicious wounding in Kanawha Circuit Court.
Prosecutors allege Dixon killed Basham in retaliation for her cooperation with police. She was shot three times on July 12, 2014. Her body was found near Breece and Madison streets. Dixon was arrested about a week later.
He was originally charged with first-degree murder in Kanawha Circuit Court, but federal prosecutors decided to take the case. Goodwin previously cited his office's crackdown on heroin distribution as a reason for filing the federal charges. Dixon has remained jailed without bond since he was arrested in July 2014.
Basham was working as an informant for the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team, according to an affidavit police used to obtain a search warrant for Dixon's cell phone. At least three times in May 2014, Basham made controlled purchases of heroin from Dixon.
A woman told police that Dixon showed up at her house the night Basham was killed and asked her to wash his clothes. Dixon can allegedly be seen on surveillance footage wiping down the front doorknob and door at the woman's home, according to police.
Police found blood on both the door and a pair of athletic shoes alleged to be Dixon's.
The same witness told police Dixon was carrying a black pistol in his waistband the night of Basham's slaying and told her Basham was killed because she wore a wire and was working as an informant for the police, court documents state.
Basham's cellphone records show communication with a number police believe belonged to Dixon in the moments leading up to her death. Phone records allegedly show Dixon was the last person to communicate with Basham.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.