Mobile Police Make Arrest in Deadly MLK Boulevard Drive-By Shooting

Mobile police have arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with a fatal drive-by shooting that killed a young woman and wounded another over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, authorities announced.

The Mobile Police Department said Jesse T. Dixon Jr., 22, was taken into custody and charged with murder, attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle following an investigation into the Nov. 28 shooting.

Investigators say the shooting happened at approximately 4 p.m. that Sunday near the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Cemetery Lane. According to police, Dixon opened fire from inside his own vehicle into a second car occupied by two women, striking both.

One of the victims, 20-year-old Canyra Osborne, later died from her injuries. The second woman, 21, was treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

Court and jail records reviewed as part of the investigation show that Dixon had only recently been released from the Mobile County Metro Jail at the time of the shooting. He was freed from custody on Sept. 27, 2021, after serving a sentence tied to a string of prior charges that included assault, theft and fleeing from arrest.

Records also show Dixon was arrested three separate times in 2019. That same year, at age 19, he was named a suspect in the shooting of a woman at a residence on Hathcox Street. That victim survived, and Dixon was arrested alongside another suspect in connection with that case.

Following his arrest in the MLK Boulevard case, Dixon was walked into Mobile Police Department headquarters for booking as investigators continued working to finalize the case for prosecutors.

Court proceedings have since been scheduled in the case. Bond for Dixon was set at $600,000 — $500,000 on the murder count, $50,000 on the attempted murder charge and $50,000 for discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle. His arraignment is set for Dec. 9.

What the charges mean

Under Alabama law, murder is a Class A felony punishable by 20 years to life in prison, and attempted murder is also a Class A felony. Discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle is a Class B felony, which carries a sentence of two to 20 years.