Authorities say that a Chicago Ph.D. student studying in criminology fatally shot her ex-boyfriend at his Washington, DC, home.
On Saturday, 37-year old Nijinsky Dix, a student at the University of Illinois Chicago, was charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of her 44-year-old boyfriend, Terry Hickman, whom she dated for three months.
Police responded to reports of gunfire at an apartment complex in the nation’s capital shortly before 5:30 p.m. that evening.
They found Dix kneeling beside the bullet-riddled body of Hickman, who was pronounced dead at the scene,
Police said Dix held a gun in her left hand, which officers ordered her to put down.
The Tribune reported that at that time, Dix was on speakerphone with her mother.
Her mother told officers that Dix called her and said, “He pushed me, and I shot him.”
Dix was taken to the hospital, complaining of memory loss and back pain but showed no signs of being assaulted.
It was reported that when questioned about the incident, Dix cited her memory problems and asked them for information that could help jog her recollection.
They showed her a photo of Hickman, which prompted Dix to cry and repeatedly shout, “Get it away from me,” the report said.
Hickman’s family told authorities that he and Dix had dated for three months before the pair broke up in May. They claimed that Dix had started “stalking” Hickman after the two had split.
It’s unclear how or why Dix ended up in Washington, DC.
According to the colleges, she has been pursuing a doctorate in criminology, law, and justice in Chicago while also working as an employee at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, where she’s the director of a talent search program.
Notre Dame said they’re “aware of her arrest and will cooperate with law enforcement as appropriate.”
