A Notre Dame employee has been charged with first-degree murder while armed in Washington, D.C., court documents state.
Prosecutors allege Nijinsky Dix shot and killed her ex-boyfriend, 44-year-old Terry Hickman.
Dix serves as the director of TRiO programs at Notre Dame, which coordinates tutoring and educational resources to South Bend schools.
Paul Browne, vice president for public affairs and communications at Notre Dame, confirmed Dix’s employment at the University to The Observer.
“The University is aware of her arrest and will cooperate with law enforcement as appropriate,” Browne said in a statement to The Observer.
The Metropolitan Police Department responded to a report of a woman with a gun and the sound of gunshots around 5:30 p.m. Saturday on 1001 4th Street Southwest in Washington, D.C., according to court documents.
Witnesses at the scene stated they heard sounds of gunshots and then a woman yelling, “Help, help, oh my God.”
While searching the building, officers entered an apartment and found Hickman unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds. Court documents state he was pronounced dead at the scene.
When officers entered the residence, they found Dix kneeling at Hickman’s feet, holding a handgun in her left hand. Officers ordered her to drop the weapon, and she dropped the firearm.
Officers heard another voice while on the scene and realized a cell phone was making a call. The person on the line said she was Dix’s mother. Court documents state Dix’s mother said Dix had called her and said, “He pushed me, and I shot him.”
Dix’s cell phone case, which officers obtained at the scene, contained her driver’s license and a Notre Dame identification card.
EMS staff reported Dix had an abrasion to her inside lower left lip but otherwise appeared to have no injuries. A medical examiner told officers Dix complained of pain in her back but did not report trauma. According to court documents, Dix also told the medical examiner she blacked out for a period and reported loss of memory.
When questioned by detectives, Dix could not answer questions about her date of birth, age, address, which state she resides in or how she came to be in Washington, D.C. Court documents state Dix asked detectives several times for information to help jog her memory.
Detectives showed Dix a photo of Hickman, to which she began crying and responded, “Please make sure he is gone, make sure he is not near me, make sure Terry not near me,” court documents said.
Hickman’s next-of-kin told officers Dix was stalking Hickman after a three-month relationship between the two ended in May. Court documents state Hickman’s next-of-kin told detectives Hickman was in the process of moving to Chicago and found someone new.
