An Indianapolis Uber driver was charged Monday with murder and attempted rape of a woman who went missing after he picked her up, and was later found dead.
Francisco Valadez, 29, was arrested Sept. 10 after admitting to police he shot his passenger Chanti Dixon in a rage when she refused to let him rape her. On Monday he was formally charged with felony murder, attempted rape and attempted abuse of a corpse, WXIN-TV reported.
The 30-year-old mother of two had called for a ride home from work around 3:30 a.m. Sept. 8, and that’s the last anybody heard from her. Her family reported her missing and found her body in a wooded area near her apartment complex the next afternoon after tracking her phone. Police found Dixon shot in the head, WTHR-TV reported, with her cell phones nearby.
As the last person to see her alive, Valadez became a person of interest, and soon afterward, a suspect. He “told two different stories as to what happened with Ms. Dixon,” police said in an affidavit obtained by WISH-TV. Eventually he admitted to shooting “Dixon in the head in the back of his car while he was trying to have sex with her,” the affidavit stated.
He pleaded not guilty on Monday and was being held without bond. Uber has banned him.
“The details of this act of violence are atrocious, and we will assist Indianapolis police however we can as they continue to investigate.” Uber told ABC News in a statement.
“This is disgusting, it’s disturbing,” Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Chris Bailey said in a briefing, according to ABC News. “No one deserves to be treated this way in our community.”
A vigil was held Sept. 14 to remember a “shining star,” her mother, Rise Dixon, told the Indianapolis Star. “She was caring. She was loving. She was a true friend to everybody as soon as she was old enough to make friends.”
