Ferndale Man Arrested for Suspected Role in Royal Oak Township Murder

A suspect has been arrested in the .

Oakland County Sheriff Sgt. Mark Gardner released a statement that said a tip from Crime Stoppers led to the arrest of the suspect, Darius McCrary, 34, in St. Paul, Minn., Thursday. He was taken into custody by the St. Paul Police Department on a homicide in the first-degree murder warrant out of Oakland County.

McCrary is suspected of shooting Fredericka Dixon on Nov. 25, 2010, Thanksgiving night, in her Royal Oak Township home. Dixon, 38 at the time of the murder, had three children — the oldest is 18 — in the Ferndale School District.

McCrary is a graduate and had worked at the as a security guard before the shooting.

On the night of Nov. 25, at 8:29 p.m., Oakland County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to Dixon's home at 21244 Westview, Royal Oak Township, for a possible shooting, Gardner said.

Upon arriving, deputies observed Dixon laying on the living room floor, shot several times. A short time later Dixon died from her gunshot wounds, Gardner said.

Officers from Berkley, Ferndale, Oak Park and state police assisted deputies at the scene.

Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said in November that the ensuing investigation had revealed that McCrary, who was Dixon's ex-boyfriend, was the suspect in the murder case.

On Wednesday, almost eight months after the incident, the Oakland County Sheriff's Fugitive Apprehension Team received a tip through Crime Stoppers that McCrary was in St. Paul, Gardner said.

The apprehension team contacted the St. Paul Police Department and the U.S. Marshals' office to follow up; earlier today the St. Paul Police Department and the U.S. Marshals office executed a search warrant, Gardner said.

"A short time after the execution of the search warrant Darius McCrary was taken into custody on a homicide-first degree murder warrant out of Oakland County," Gardner said.

McCrary was taken to the St. Paul jail and is awaiting extradition.

McCrary had reportedly threatened the victim over the weeks prior to the shooting, according McCabe. The suspect had previously lived with Dixon in Royal Oak Township but not over the last three years, deputies said. Deputies said McCrary had two convictions for property crimes.

However, these convictions weren't severe enough to preclude him from working in the Ferndale Public Schools district, Ferndale Public Schools spokesperson Stephanie Hall said shortly after the shooting in November.

Hall said McCrary's work record in the district was without issue. "Most of us knew him one way or another," she said. "He was well liked. This is very shocking."

Stay tuned to Ferndale Patch as more details are released.