Bail was denied Sunday for a convicted felon who was on house arrest when he and his brother allegedly shot and killed another man earlier this month in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side.
Semaj Dixon, 28, was charged with first-degree murder in the April 5 slaying of 21-year-old Eugene Broach, who prosecutors said was shot 11 times during Dixon’s initial court hearing. Dixon’s brother remains at large.
Prosecutors alleged that Dixon and his brother were both armed with handguns when they chased Broach through the 12000 block of South Lowe, where Dixon lives. When Broach fell, prosecutors said the brothers stood over him and fired repeatedly as he lay in a “fetal position.”
Broach was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and pronounced dead, according to prosecutors and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Two witnesses identified the brothers from photo lineups and images taken from surveillance footage, prosecutors said. That video purportedly shows Broach’s killing and the events that took place before and after the shooting.
Dixon was on electronic home monitoring at the time as he awaited trial in a gun case filed last December. Prosecutors noted his GPS monitor also showed him near the scene, corroborating the video footage.
Dixon was still wearing the same clothing seen in the surveillance footage when he was arrested later that day on an unrelated escape charge, prosecutors said. His hands also tested positive for gunshot residue.
Dixon’s attorney, Nicholas Giordano, questioned how Dixon was identified as one of the gunmen and insisted there’s “no evidence” placing his client’s GPS tracker at the shooting scene.
Giordano claimed Dixon called the Cook County sheriff’s office before the shooting to report he needed to leave the area “because him and his family were being threatened.” Dixon’s home was then “firebombed” and rendered “unlivable,” according to Giordano, who said one of his client’s brothers was also killed in the area last year.
Dixon, who has an 8-year-old son and a 2-year-old stepdaughter, recently worked at a Dollar Tree store while taking classes to earn a commercial driver’s license, his attorney added.
Though Girodano pressed for a cash bond in the new case, Judge David Navarro sided with prosecutors and denied Dixon bail. Dixon was also held without bail in the pending gun case after violating the terms of his release.
He’s expected in court again Monday.
