By Rich Bockmann
Police said Wednesday they had arrested and charged a suspect in the murder of Patrick Dixon, the teenager from South Jamaica who was killed last week when several young men attempted to steal his iPhone.
Stephon Huffman, 17, of 116th Avenue was arrested and charged with murder, two counts of robbery, tampering with evidence and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
The authorities said they were still searching for more suspects. Dixon, also 17, had just stepped off a bus on 142nd Street near Foch Boulevard around 11 a.m. when a group of black males stabbed him in the neck as they attempted to rob him, police said.
Police and EMS responded to the scene soon after — the attackers had fled, leaving behind the iPhone — and Dixon, a Thomas Edison High School student, was taken to Jamaica Hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to authorities.
Dixon’s school declined to comment on his murder.
Later that evening, as investigators collected evidence, neighbors who did not know the young man blamed violence in the area on the poor economy and the high unemployment rate.
One man, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he had lived in the neighborhood for 30 years and did not have any information on who was killed or why.
“That’s how bad it is around here,” he said.
J.D. Davidson, 28, said he has been on disability and has not had a job his entire adult life. He said that as recently as a few years ago he noticed a shift in the ages of those perpetrating violent crimes.
“Back in the day, it was older dudes. Now it’s nothing but kids,” he said. “Young kids are doing it to each other. Not a month goes by that you don’t hear about some kid getting hurt.”
Patrick Lorenzo said a SWAT team had been combing the neighborhood with K-9s searching for suspects, and that they entered a house on 141st Street, but did not find anyone inside. While he did not go into the house, he said he had his own two dogs, Wolf and Bella, out on the street in an attempt to help.
“My dogs were bigger than theirs,” he said.
Lorenzo said he purchased his two German shepherds, which are trained K-9s, from a soldier in the German army who was shot and could no longer care for the dogs.
A neighbor of Dixon’s near his home on 180th Street was shocked to hear of the young man’s death. Johnnie Mae McFadden said she had seen him earlier Friday and invited him to a young-people empowerment group at the Greater Rescue Church of Christ on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard.
“He told me he intended to go,” she said. “I waited Friday night, but he never showed.”
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
