(This story was updated to correct an inaccuracy.)
Standing in front of his mother’s killer, 14-year-old Dashaun Fykes took the stand at the Marion County Courthouse as silence otherwise filled the room.
The teen took a second to compose himself after making eye contact with 30-year-old Francisco Valadez, who moments earlier had pleaded guilty to murder in the brutal killing of Fykes’s mother in September 2024.
“You disgust me,” Fykes said. “My family has been torn apart because of you.”
When Fykes first walked to the witness stand, the words left his mouth no louder than a whisper. He stared at the floor as he recited his name to the judge.
But as he started speaking about his mother, his voice grew louder and his tone firm. He spoke about how the day of his mother’s funeral haunted his dreams.
Then he looked Valadez directly in the face and didn’t mince words: “You took her away from me.”
In 2024, Dixon requested an Uber ride home from work at about 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 8, which Valadez approved and processed to drive her to the Grandville Cooperative apartments complex on the southeast side of the city.
After arriving at the complex, Valadez shot Dixon in the head because she laughed at him while he “was trying to have sex with her,” court records said.
Dixon was found dead in a wooded area near the apartments nearly a day later, after her family filed a missing persons report.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s office charged Valadez with two counts of murder, one count of rape and one count of abuse of a corpse. If convicted for all of those charges, Valadez faced more than 90 years in prison, according to Indiana sentencing guidelines.
On Oct. 27, Valadez filed a plea agreement admitting guilt to one count of murder. As part of the agreement, the state dropped the three other charges.
On Dec. 4, Marion County Judge Cynthia Oetjen accepted his plea agreement and sentenced Valadez to serve 45 years at the Indiana Department of Correction. Valadez would also be required to register as a sex offender for life.
‘You died the same day my daughter died’
Every day for the past year and a half, Chanti Dixon’s mother, Rise Dixon, prayed that her daughter’s killer would be brought to justice.
So when the day came that Valadez would have the gravel slammed on him, she knew she needed to be there and make sure he understood the pain he brought upon her family.
She took a seat at the witness podium and recited her name to the court while staring at Valadez.
“I suffered a great loss because of you,” Rise Dixon said. “But I will move forward.”
She spoke of how his actions forever changed two families: theirs and his.
But she also noted moving forward, for her, didn’t mean she would forgive.
“There will come a day when you will feel like you need to ask for forgiveness,” the mother told Valadez. “On that day, do not come to me.”
After Rise Dixon finished her testimony, the judge concluded the hearing by officially sentencing Valadez to his time in prison.
Outside of the courtroom, Dixon’s family members cried and hugged.
With this chapter of their life complete, family members reflected on how Chanti Dixon would probably react to Valadez’s sentencing.
“Good job, Mama, you got him,” Rise Dixon joked. “‘Now, let’s go pop some bottles.’ That’s what she would say.”
Contact IndyStar reporter Noe Padilla at npadilla@indystar.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: ‘You disgust me.’ Teen has sharp words for Uber driver who killed mom
Reporting by Noe Padilla, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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