Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Unspeakable

I don't have words to explain how I feel about this young woman's death. Those involved should suffer just as much.

Torture death shocks Illinois town

Dorothy Dixon, a 29-year-old developmentally disabled woman who was six months pregnant, died after weeks of abuse by her housemates. Her one-year-old child has been taken into state custody.

Dorothy Dixon ate what she could forage from the refrigerator upstairs, where prosecutors say housemates used her for target practice with BBs, burned her with a glue gun and doused her with scalding liquid that peeled away her skin.

They torched what few clothes she had, authorities say, so she walked around naked. They often pummeled her with an aluminum bat or metal handle.


Two adults, three teenagers, and a 12-year-old have been charged with her death. One of those adults, Michelle Riley, had been a coordinator for housing and other services for developmentally disabled clients despite a history of drug convictions. Dixon was one of her clients prior to their moving into the home in another town.

It's hard to believe that anyone could do this to another human being, especially one who was mentally challenged. It's even worse that a whole group of people could do this, treating her worse than you would an animal.

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