ndianapolis Area Crime
IMPD: Uber driver admits to raping, killing Indy woman before dumping her body
by:
Joe Schroeder
Posted: Sep 10, 2024 / 03:16 PM EDT
Updated: Sep 11, 2024 / 12:04 PM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS —
Police say an Uber driver recently arrested in the death of Chanti Dixon admitted he raped, shot and killed the woman after picking her up from work Sunday morning.
Francisco Valadez, 29, was arrested Tuesday morning by IMPD homicide detectives and preliminarily charged with murder.
Valadez reportedly admitted to police that he shot and killed the 30-year-old Dixon in a fit of rage after picking her up as an Uber driver and attempting to rape her in the back of his car. He then said he dumped her body in an alleyway in a wooded area near the victim’s home.
“This is just disgusting all around and it did not have to happen,” said IMPD chief Chris Bailey.
Dixon’s death
Court documents filed Tuesday in Marion County Court detail how officers were called around 1 p.m. Monday to the 1800 block of Wagner Lane after a woman’s body was found in a nearby wooded area. IMPD arrived to find a woman naked, unresponsive and lying on her stomach.
The victim’s family said they tracked her phone to the woods behind her home where they found her body and called police.
The woman – later identified by the Marion County Coroner’s Office as Dixon – was pronounced dead on scene. After the crime scene was processed for evidence, it was discovered that Dixon had suffered a gunshot wound to the left side of her head.
Chanti Dixon/Photo provided by family
A woman near the scene told police that the dead woman was her daughter
who had been missing since early Sunday morning. The woman told officers her daughter had gotten off work around 3:30 a.m. and ordered an Uber to get home. No one had talked to her since.
IMPD crews reportedly found two cell phones in the wooded area near Dixon’s body. Both phones were identified as belonging to Dixon. The victim’s mother gave police the passcodes for both phones, which would eventually lead them to Valadez.