Former classmate pleads in notorious cold-case killing

A Camden man pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing a former Pennsauken High School classmate more than seven years ago.

Warren Dixon, 25, admitted he met Sherita Williams, 16, a popular Pennsauken High student, in Camden on Nov. 29, 2003. He confessed in Superior Court in Camden County that he took her under the 36th Street bridge near the Pennsauken-Camden border, the Camden County Prosecutor and Pennsauken Police said.

Under the bridge, Dixon tried to have sex with Williams, who resisted. He then grabbed her around her neck and strangled her.

As part of the plea, Dixon is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in jail on charges of aggravated manslaughter and attempted aggravated sexual assault.

Williams' death was one of the region's most visible cold cases. In 2009, Dixon was arrested after a stain on Williams' jeans was matched to Dixon's DNA profile, which was on file because of a prior criminal conviction.

Williams had been found partially clothed with no major signs of trauma to her body. She tested negative for drugs.

Dixon, who lived near the bridge, had transferred to Camden High School in 2003, and in the fall semester of that year was in one of Williams' classes. Her parents and friends had said she was not friendly with Dixon as far as they know.

Williams was last seen on Nov. 28, 2003. She left to get her eyebrows groomed and then to meet up with a friend. She kept the eyebrow appointment, but never made it to the meeting with her friend.