The last of six people involved in the torture-murder of a pregnant, developmentally disabled woman in Alton, Ill., has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for first-degree murder.Benny Wilson, 19, was sentenced by Madison County Associate Judge James Hackett.
Alton police Officer Jennifer Tierney testified that evidence showed Wilson had repeatedly shot Dorothy Dixon with a BB gun and kicked her in the face and head.
Dixon was found dead on Jan. 31, 2008 in a damp, unfinished basement where she lived.
She had numerous bruises, burns over 30 to 40 percent of her body, a number of BBs lodged in her skin and was 5 or 6 months pregnant with a viable fetus.
Wilson's sentence was not as severe as the one handed to the alleged ringleader, Michelle Riley [pictured], who received 45 years after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. Police say Riley dominated the house, collected Dixon's disability check and treated her as a slave.
Other defendants included LeShelle McBride, 18, Riley's daughter, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 6 years; Michael J. Elliott, 21, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 8 years; Judy E. Woods, 46, who pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and was sentenced to 18 months; and a 12-year-old boy who was found guilty of second-degree murder in juvenile court and was sentenced to 60 days of detention and 5 years probation.
From February, 2010 - Dorothy Dixon was a 29-year-old mother with another child on the way. She was also mentally disabled with the mind of a child, which made her Social Security checks rather attractive to Michelle Riley. So Riley invited Dixon into her Alton, Illinois home, only to make her the house slave...
She would soon be the subject of unspeakable cruelty. Over months, the residents of the household -- including another woman, three kids ages 17-20, and a 12-year-old -- used Dixon to play out their most sadistic fantasies.
Michelle Riley kept a pot of boiling water on hand to routinely scald Dixon so bad that it peeled back her skin. She was beaten with a plunger and burned with a hot glue gun. Police say Riley routinely kept boiling water on hand to scald Dixon, pouring water so hot it peeled back her skin. They used her for target practice with a BB pistol. And they burned all her clothes so she was forced to walk around naked.
They also banished her to the basement to sleep on a mattress with a thin rug. And they did it all while she was five months pregnant.
Why they tortured her is beyond imagination. But Riley, described as the ring leader, kept Dixon around so she could cash her Social Security checks. When Dixon finally died, she was found in the basement wearing only a sweater.
An autopsy showed signs of severe torture. One-third of her body was covered in burns and she was severely dehydrated. Her teeth were knocked out and skin had grown over embedded BBs.
The 12-year-old has already been found guilty in juvenile court to second-degree murder. He was sentenced to just 60 days detention and five years of probation.
But last week, Riley, 37, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 45 years. Under the plea, her 17-year-old daughter, LeShelle McBride, will be allowed to plead to second-degree murder and face sentencing of 6-20 years.
Still awaiting trial are Judy Woods, 45, Benny Wilson, 18, and Michael Elliott, 20.
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