A Georgia man who was shot and killed outside a Comfort Inn in Queens by a suspected hitman dressed as a Hasidic Jew had $10,000 in his pocket at the time, police said.
Jermaine Dixon, 46, of St. Albans, was getting into his car in South Ozone Park on Monday morning when the disguised hitman ran up to him and shot him at point-blank range in the back of the head.
Police officials told the New York Post that the gunman had targeted Dixon because he believed the ex-convict, who spent 19 years in jail for murder and drugs charges, was cooperating with law enforcement as an informant and tried to steal the wad of cash without success.
Jermaine Dixon, 46, can be seen walking to his car (top middle in light colored clothing) as the shooter looks under his hood (dressed in black) before he ambushed and shot Dixon as he was getting into his car in Queens, New York. Police said Dixon had been carrying $10,000
Dixon can be seen through the tree limbs unresponsively slumped in the front seat of his car as the shooter runs back to his vehicle and flees
The cold-blooded execution, which was captured by surveillance cameras, took place in broad daylight, less than a year after Dixon, a former gang member, was released from prison after serving 19 years for a murder conviction.
A former member of the Brooklyn ‘Patio Crew’, named for a Flatbush restaurant where the gang hung out, Dixon served nearly two decades in prison for the 1992 murder of Alphonso Gooden and drug charges, records show.
His brother, Emile Dixon, was also convicted for killing Gooden and is serving a life sentence.
Detectives told NBC that in the weeks leading up to his death, Dixon would look around him whenever he walked from the hotel to his rental car, as if he knew someone was after him.
A spokesperson for the NYPD told DailyMail.com on Friday that so far there have been no updates in the search for the killer, and the investigation was ongoing.
Video obtained by DailyMail.com shows the killer wearing a traditional rekel – a long, black coat – and a wide-brimmed black hat.
The NYPD are looking for a man last seen dressed in all black with a mask and dark skinned
The police are looking for a white Nissan sedan that the killer drove off in
Body of shooting victim Jermaine Dixon is wheeled away after EMTs pronounced he was dead at the scene
The gunman had his trunk, hood and car door open before hunching under the hood as Dixon approached his own car, according the video.
Once Dixon turned his back on the man to open the door of his car, the hitman ran across the street and shot the former ‘Patio Crew’ gang member in the back of the head, the video showed.
Dixon’s body was slumped in the front seat as the man ran back to his car, slammed the hood down and drove away from the scene.
Cops discovered the slain victim around 8 a.m. on South Conduit Avenue in South Ozone Park and Dixon was pronounced dead at the scene.
The NYPD described the killer as a dark-skinned man last seen wearing all black and a mask. They are working to establish whether the killer is a member of the Hasidic community, or if he just donned the clothing as a disguise.
Court documents show that a deal to cooperate with the feds fell apart after prosecutors discovered Dixon was the triggerman in Gooden’s murder, the Daily News reported.
Police cordon off scene of fatal shooting where a gunman faked car trouble before executing his victim. The investigation is still on going
Dixon, described as a ‘good guy’ by mourning family members, became a model prisoner and his life sentence was reduced to a 30 years.
He pursued a bachelor’s degree in business and filed for compassionate release, where he took responsibility for his actions and asked for a chance to prove himself, the Daily News reported.
‘It is clear that I am not the young man that your honor sentenced 20 years ago,’ Dixon wrote to Judge Raymond Dearie. ‘I am now asking your honor to again take a chance with me and let me re-enter society to prove to myself, my mother, children, family and also the court that I can and will do the right thing upon release…I blame no one but myself for the road I chose that put me in my current situation. ‘
His plea was convincing and Dearie said he was compelled to give Dixon a ‘chance.’
A spokesperson for the NYPD told DailyMail.com on Friday that so far there have been no updates in the search for the killer, and the investigation was ongoing.
