A Wisconsin man has been charged in the brutal 1991 stabbing murder of a South Side girl after investigators linked his DNA to the murder, Cook County prosecutors said Tuesday.Two decades ago, Steven Dixon, now 36, told relatives and detectives he was sleeping on the floor in Tiffany Lindsey’s apartment on Oct. 13, 1991, when he awoke to screams and felt someone stabbing him, prosecutors said.
When police asked him why he didn’t help the 16-year-old Lindsey while she was being attacked, Dixon allegedly said he ran from the residence with his shirt, jacket and shoes because he was “in shock.”
Lindsey was discovered on her back on the floor of her apartment, in the 4700 block of South Drexel. A serrated steak knife blade was lodged in her neck and her unharmed 1-year-old son was crying and crawling on top of her blanketed body, prosecutors said. A screwdriver was next to Lindsey’s right hand and two broken knife handles and a knife blade were found inches from her head.
Lindsey was stabbed 12 times in the face, hands and neck, prosecutors said. She also suffered a fractured skull.
Dixon, who was also 16 at the time, was an acquaintance of Lindsey’s and had spent the prior night at her place, police said.
Dixon allegedly told police he panicked when he saw Lindsey being attacked and fled before taking a cab to his home in the 8200 block of South Damen. His mother and sister saw that he had cuts on his hands and blood on his clothes and sent someone to check on Lindsey, prosecutors said.
While he was at the hospital for a minor puncture wound to his right hand and three slashes to his abdomen, officers took Dixon’s clothes for inventory, authorities said. Dixon told detectives he would speak with them further but police were never able to question him again, prosecutors said, offering no further explanation.
The Chicago Police Cold Case Unit realized two years ago that the DNA saved from the case was never analyzed, according to court documents. Test results from October showed both Dixon and Lindsey’s DNA on a knife and Lindsey’s fingernails, prosecutors said. Blood found on Dixon’s hand, clothes and shoes and a screwdriver also allegedly matched Lindsey’s DNA. A bloodstain pattern analysis conducted earlier this year also placed Dixon at the scene, prosecutors said.
Dixon was in custody at the Dodge Correctional Institute in Wisconsin last fall for failing to pay child support and for an alleged probation violation when Chicago Police obtained a DNA sample from him, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
Dixon, who has a tattoo that says “Pimp City Player” on his lower left arm, was ordered held without bail Tuesday at the criminal courthouse at 26th and California.
