CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Charleston man could face the federal death penalty if he’s convicted in the killing of a federal drug informant.
A federal grand jury indicted Marlon “Ice” Dixon, 38, Tuesday, on seven criminal counts in connection with the July 12 shooting death of Branda Basham. The 21-year-old Charleston woman was gunned down on Charleston’s West Side.
The indictments allege Dixon killed Basham in retaliation for her talking to police and “to prevent her from testifying or continuing to provide information against him.” U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said Dixon sold heroin three times last May and then killed Basham two months later.
Dixon is already in jail on state murder charges in connection with Basham’s death. He’s being held without bail.
Goodwin said, if convicted, Dixon faces life in prison or the federal death penalty. Dixon was convicted in both 1999 and 2006 on federal drug charges. He was also convicted on a malicious wounding charge in Kanawha County Circuit Court in 2007.