A single mother disappeared after taking an Uber from an Indianapolis nightclub and was later found raped and murdered in a wooded area behind her home.
Chanti Dixon, 30, disappeared after getting into a rideshare vehicle outside the club where she worked on West 16th Street shortly after 3.30am on Sunday.
His distraught relatives tracked his phone and called police to the gruesome scene where they discovered the device and identified the Uber driver as Francisco Valadez, 29.
He initially claimed his passenger had been attacked by a “black man with a gun” while she was sitting in her car.
But he has been charged with murder after admitting he shot her dead in a rage when she insulted his body as he raped her.
“This is a family’s worst nightmare,” Indianapolis Deputy Police Chief Catherine Cummings said at a news conference Wednesday. “We are disgusted.”
Chanti Dixon, 30, a mother of two, was found raped, shot and killed by her family after they tracked her phone to a wooded area outside her Indianapolis home.
Police said Uber driver Francisco Valadez admitted shooting her to death in a rage when she insulted his body while he raped her.
The mother of two had moved into her home on Earhart Street a few days earlier with her sons Dashun, 13, and Chianti, 10.
Police believe Valadez had driven her outside before launching his murderous attack just yards from her front door.
They tracked his BMW with Indiana plates to his home on Aristocrat Circle on the city’s east end before knocking on his door Tuesday morning.
He admitted picking Dixon up from the club but claimed a passerby had tried to rob her at gunpoint after approaching her car.
“She added that the suspect shot her (Dixon) in the thigh and that she got out of the car and he fled the scene,” police wrote in their report.
‘He also said he had cleaned the blood from his car.’
Other officers were speaking with Valadez’s mother, who told them her son routinely carried a gun in his car.
Police arrested Valadez after a search of his car turned up the gun and he agreed to be questioned.
“Mr. Valadez told two different stories about what happened to Ms. Dixon,” police wrote.
The family has set up a Gofundme campaign for Dixon’s children, Dashun, 13, and Chianti, 10.
“I keep waiting for her to walk through that door, but I know she won’t,” said mother Rise Dixon.
Valadez said police dragged her body out of the car and over a concrete barrier into some bushes next to a school bus stop, where she was found by her family.
He eventually admitted to raping Valadez and shooting her in the head as she looked down at the 5-foot-5, 210-pound body of her rapist.
He dragged her body out of the car, over a concrete barrier and into some bushes next to a school bus stop.
He then tried to rape her again.
“I keep waiting for her to walk through that door, but I know she won’t,” said her mother Rise Dixon. Satellite television.
‘Don’t let what happened to her diminish what she gave to the world.
She always said, ‘Mom, you’re my best friend,’ and I said, ‘Girl, yeah, I know and you’re my best friend.’
‘You couldn’t miss her presence because she would let you know when he walked in the door. She would shout, ‘Hello, everybody, hello, everybody,’ and make sure her children, her nephews, her sisters and her brother knew that she loved them.
“She was so selfless. So selfless.”
“This is a family that has been torn apart,” Indianapolis Police Department Chief Chris Bailey said in announcing that Valadez had been charged with murder.
“This woman was taken from the world unnecessarily for an evil act, and I’m glad we were able to find this individual so quickly so she wouldn’t have the opportunity to perpetuate violence in our community.”
The family has created a Gofundme appeal for the orphaned children of Dixon and Bailey said more charges will likely be filed before Valadez’s first court appearance on Thursday.
“No one deserves to be treated this way in our community and I am so sorry that his family is here today,” she added.
Police are asking other victims of Valadez to come forward, and an Uber spokesperson said their “hearts are broken for Ms. Dixon’s family and loved ones amid this tragedy.”
“This woman left this world unnecessarily for an evil act,” Indianapolis Police Department Chief Chris Bailey said in announcing the murder charges against Valadez.
Police recovered this gun from the Uber driver’s car
“The details of this act of violence are appalling and we will assist Indianapolis police in any way we can as they continue to investigate,” the company added.
“One thing about Chanti is that he was a good person,” said his cousin Eric Young. Indystar.comShe was always the life of the party and, I assure you, she was a mother first and foremost.
“If it hadn’t been her, it would have been someone else,” he added.
“I just want justice. I want justice for her and for our family. I really want justice for her son.”