A 21-year-old student and member of the Morgan State University choir was shot to death after leaving a friend’s house in Northeast Baltimore where he was doing homework Wednesday night.
Kevon Dix was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds in the 3400 block of Mary Avenue in the Glenham-Belhar neighborhood, police said. Officers were originally called for a report of a shooting at 10:23 p.m., and Dix was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dix’s mother, Annette, said her son was leaving a friend’s house, getting in his car to drive home when he was killed.
“They may have thought that he was somebody else,” she said. “They didn’t take anything; they just took his life.”
Annette Dix said she does not know why anyone would want to hurt her son, who was expecting to graduate in December. He was studying music and was a tenor in the Morgan State University Choir.
They may have thought that he was somebody else. They didn’t take anything; they just took his life.
— Annette Dix, Kevon Dix's mother
Annette Dix said he was on his way home to talk to his older brother, Kenneth, who got his acceptance letter to Morgan the same day. The brothers were going to attend the school together. Her older son, who took time off from school after a serious car accident, is heartbroken, she said.
Morgan State President David Wilson posted on Facebook about Kevon Dix’s death.
“We extend our most sincere condolences to the Dix family and ask that you keep them as well as other family and friends in your thoughts and prayers,” Wilson wrote.
Dix was studying music and wanted to become a vocal coach to hone his skills and pay his dues, and eventually a professional singer himself, his mother said.
“He was just a bubbly, wonderful person,” his mother said. “Singing was his passion.”
Dix recalled taking her son when he was 11 years old to see “The Lion King” musical at the Hippodrome Theatre.
“He was just overwhelmed and just in awe,” she said.
Dix was always singing as a child and later sang at talent shows at City Neighbors High School in Northwest Baltimore, where his mother said, “he made the talent show become popular” by performing covers of John Legend songs.
Kevon Dix continued practicing, she said, and he posted a video of himself singing “All The Stars” by Kendrick Lamar & SZA on his YouTube Channel, KEVSingz.
“I took a break from everything and everyone” to “find a new confidence in myself and in my craft,” Dix wrote in the video’s description. “Music is my passion and I think it might be time I let my voice be heard.”
Dix also was a mentor to other youth through the Michael Jones Mentoring Group Inc., said the program’s founder, Michael “Coach” Jones.
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“He was just a powerhouse. An electric smile. A great personality,” Jones said.
The program, based on North Avenue, helps kids improve their self-esteem and academics, and Jones said Dix and his brother both benefited from it. Dix then gave back, helping other young people, Jones said.
Alumni and youth currently in the program are hurting, he said.
“He became a young man. He helped young kids. He gave back,” Jones said. “He was the best of Baltimore.”
The night Dix died, his mother said, their last conversation was about her clothes because he would often help her pick out outfits for her job at St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore. He had decided he was the best dresser, she said with a laugh, describing the nightly chore. He chose a pair of cream-colored clogs, she said.
“He was everybody’s friend, the life of the party and very kind, very loving, very compassionate,” his mother said. “There is nobody that you could speak to that would say anything bad about him. He’s the sunshine.”
Police did not report a suspect in Dix’s death but said homicide detectives are handling the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7Lockup.