17 July 2019 :

Superior Court Judge Greg Horne sentenced Nathaniel Dixon to Life in Prison With Out Parole for the murder of Candace Pickens, plus 303/389 months for the attempted murder of 3-year-old Zachaeus Waters. The attempted murder sentence will be a consecutive charge. Dixon, 27, Black, was convicted last month of 1st-degree murder, attempted 1st-degree murder and malicious maiming. Prosecutors say he shot 22-year-old Candace Pickens and her 3-year-old son Zachaeus on May 11, 2016. The boy lost his left eye and suffered a traumatic brain injury but survived. Pickens was in her 1st trimester of pregnancy when she was killed, and had not agreed to get an abortion. Pickens' father and stepmother, Richard and Charlene Pickens, previously told the Citizen Times they oppose the death penalty for Dixon, and 4 days ago (see July 12) prosecutors accepted to drop death penalty.