Attorney General Ken Paxton recently announced that Gregory Newson has received a death sentence for the murder of Deputy William Christopher Dickerson. According to a statement by the Office of the Attorney General, on the fateful night of December 31, 2019, Newson fatally shot Deputy Dickerson during a routine traffic stop in Panola County.
Newson was apprehended after a perilous chase that followed the attack. During the initial encounter, after being pulled over for an undisclosed reason, he fired at Deputy Dickerson with an illegally possessed AR-15 and struck the officer multiple times. Despite sustaining injuries, Deputy Dickerson managed to return fire, hitting Newson in the legs, which ultimately led to his capture approximately an hour later. At the time of his arrest, Newson still had the murder weapon, additional ammunition, a substantial amount of marijuana, and an amount of cash totaling $5,500.
The trial revealed that Newson was attempting to transport drugs across state lines, traveling from Shreveport, Louisiana, to East Texas. He evidently decided to kill Deputy Dickerson in an act of desperation to avoid arrest for the contraband he was carrying. The jury was convinced that Newson represents a "continuing threat to society" and found no mitigating circumstances to preclude a death sentence for his crimes, according to the Office of the Attorney General.
During the legal proceedings, Assistant Attorneys General Natalie Tise, Wesley Mau, and Matthew Ottoway represented the Criminal Prosecutions Division, with help from legal assistant Michael Roberts and Sergeant David Fugitt of the Criminal Investigations Division.
