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Slain teen had ties to area where he was gunned down
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Related Topics: SAN FRANCISCO
SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - The 15-year-old shot and killed in front of Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School on Tuesday was a former Visitacion Valley resident and “good kid” who was in the process of turning his life around, his uncle told The Examiner on Wednesday.
“He wasn’t in no gang — he was just a 15-year-old kid trying to find his way,” said St. Andrew Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Ishmael Burch, the uncle of Trayon Dixson. “He loved video games and was a pretty good ballplayer.”
Dixson, who the Medical Examiner’s Office said was an Antioch resident at the time of his death, was a former student at Visitacion Valley Middle School — where several members of his family still attend, Principal James Dierke said.
Between August 2003 and June 2005, the teen shifted from Aim High to Visitacion Valley to Luther Burbank Middle School. He was placed at Principal’s Center, a court-mandated school for students in juvenile hall, in October 2007. In February, he moved out of the area, according to San Francisco Unified School District Gentle Blythe. Although officials wouldn’t disclose details about Dixson’s juvenile court system involvement, Juvenile probation Chief William Siffermann said only juveniles with felony convictions are assigned to juvenile hall.
Dixson had no recent convictions in San Francisco, Siffermann added.
Like many families, the Dixsons left Visitacion Valley for the East Bay as the cost of living climbed, according to Dierke.
Police believe the shooting suspect is a young black man age 17 or 18 who fired at Dixson before getting into a white vehicle driven by a second suspect, according to San Francisco police Sgt. Wilfred Williams. No arrests have been made.
