Jury gives verdict finding Whatcom woman guilty of killing Bellingham 3-year-old

A Whatcom County woman is guilty of abusing a 3-year-old Bellingham girl to death in 2019.

A jury found Kamee Nicole Dixon, 30, guilty of homicide by abuse Thursday, June 30, in Whatcom County Superior Court for the Nov. 30, 2019, death of Hazel Journey Homan.

A mistrial was declared as to the second-degree murder charge because the jury was deadlocked and could not reach a unanimous verdict.

The jury also found that Dixon used her position of trust or responsibility to commit homicide by abuse and that Dixon knew or should have known that Hazel was vulnerable or incapable of resistance. Dixon is the first person to be charged, tried and convicted for homicide by abuse, which has been a criminal charge since 1987, by the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office.

Dixon’s sentencing has tentatively been scheduled for July 14. She faces up to life in prison.

Hazel’s death was ruled a homicide Jan. 23, 2020, by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Dixon was not Hazel’s biological mother, but was Hazel’s primary caregiver and was in a relationship with Hazel’s biological father, Brandon Homan, at the time of the toddler’s death.

Dixon’s jury trial began in mid-April, with jury selection occurring in March. It is the longest-know criminal jury trial in Whatcom County history — spanning 95 days, according to a June 30 press release from the prosecuting attorney’s office.

Dixon has been incarcerated in Whatcom County Jail since December 2019 in lieu of $1 million bail. She will be held without bail in the jail pending her sentencing hearing.

Because a mistrial was declared on the second-degree murder charge, the prosecuting attorney’s office has the ability to retry Dixon for that charge only. Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Erik Sigmar said late Thursday that they likely do not intend to proceed with retrying the charge.

The jury deliberated for roughly three days after a three-month-long trial before they concluded they were deadlocked and would not reach a verdict on the murder charge. The court had previously called the attorneys, Dixon and the public back on Tuesday afternoon after the jury informed the bailiff it had reached a verdict. It was then discovered that the jury had only reached a verdict on one of the counts, and the judge, who said it was an “unusual circumstance” he had not encountered before, sent it back to continue deliberating.

The attorneys, Dixon and the public were again called back late Wednesday afternoon before a final hearing to determine if there was a hung jury was scheduled for Thursday morning.

“Bringing Kamee Dixon to justice took extraordinary effort,” the prosecuting attorney’s office’s press release states.

The Bellingham Herald has reached out to Dixon’s defense attorneys for comment.

The case

Dixon’s defense attorneys argued that Hazel’s death was a “tragic accident.”

Emily Beschen, one of Dixon’s defense attorneys, said on the morning of Nov. 27, 2019, Hazel choked on a breakfast sandwich Dixon had bought her and that a lack of oxygen to the child’s brain ultimately resulted in her death.

During her testimony, Dixon said she attempted to open Hazel’s mouth because she believed the child was choking and grabbed food out of her throat.

Experts for the defense testified that the toddler had systemic bone disease due to a vitamin D deficiency, which made her more susceptible to injuries and fractures.

In his closing remarks, Douglas Hyldahl, one of Dixon’s defense attorneys, said Hazel flowered while under the care of Dixon and her biological father. Hyldahl said Dixon’s frustrations over caring for Hazel that she expressed to others was not evidence of a pattern of abuse or torture over the last several months of the child’s life.

But the prosecution argued that Dixon hit Hazel until the child suffered a traumatic brain injury that resulted in her death. Sigmar, the prosecutor, said over the last five months of her life, Hazel suffered repeated abuse at the hands of Dixon.

Hazel had been removed from her biological parents’ home and lived with her paternal grandparents for the majority of the first three years of her life. Five months before her death, Hazel was placed back into the custody of her biological father, Sigmar said.

In those five months, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families met with Hazel at least 11 times, Sigmar said. The prosecution argued that while Dixon would care for the toddler while Hazel’s father was at work, she suffered bruises, a second-degree burn to her hand, an alkaline or chemical injury to her eye, that she fell down the stairs multiple times and experienced head trauma. She also had fractures at various stages of healing, Sigmar and court records state.

Resources

▪ Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollins.org

▪ Child Protective Services: Washington state hotline for reporting child abuse and neglect, 866-829-2153.

▪ Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.

▪ Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.

▪ Tl’ils Ta’á’altha Victims of Crime: 360-325-3310 or nooksacktribe.org/departments/youth-family-services/tlils-taaaltha-victims-of-crime-program/

▪ Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.

▪ WWU Consultation and Sexual Assault Support Survivor Advocacy Services: 360-650-3700 or wp.wwu.edu/sexualviolence/.