A fire tore through a three-story apartment building on the 1600 block of Four Georges Court in Dundalk on November 15, 1992, forcing residents to flee for their lives. Sixty-six-year-old LeGrande Dixon jumped from a third-story balcony to escape the flames and died 16 days later from his injuries. More than three decades on, Baltimore County Police say the case remains unsolved.
Investigators ruled out other potential causes of the blaze and determined it was intentionally set, according to WMAR-2 News. Because Dixon's death followed directly from those injuries, his manner of death was ruled a homicide. The apartment building sat off Holabird Avenue and Merritt Boulevard, in a stretch of Dundalk that has seen its share of police activity over the years, including an attempted first-degree burglary there in February 2018 and a robbery in January 2020, according to Baltimore County crime records.
Residents Cut Through Fencing to Escape
The fire's chaos extended beyond Dixon. Two other people were also forced to jump from a third-story balcony that night, then had to cut through wired fencing just to reach the ground, per the same WMAR-2 News report. Both individuals were seriously injured in the fall.
A good Samaritan who helped people escape the fire described the frantic scene to the station: “It happened so fast. It was 2 or 3 kids, 2 adults, and I had a hard time getting the one adult out, so I had to grab her because she was afraid of the height.” Another witness who pitched in that night added, “So I helped them down first and ran to the bedrooms, got the two girls out.”
According to firemarshal.maryland.gov, Maryland recorded 73 confirmed fire fatalities in 2024, including 58 involving residential structures, 10 associated with vehicle fires and five in other settings.
What Investigators Still Need
Under Maryland Criminal Law Section 6-102, deliberately setting fire to an occupied residential building is classified as first-degree arson, a felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison and fines as high as $50,000, according to FrizWoods. The fire resulted in Dixon's death. No arrests have been announced in the case, and Dixon's death is now listed among Baltimore County's cold cases. In Bates & Beharry v. State, Maryland Courts records say a jury returned inconsistent verdicts, finding the defendant guilty of felony murder but not arson while finding Grey guilty of conspiracy to commit arson.
Baltimore County Police are asking anyone with information about Dixon's death to call 410-887-3943. The department's Unsolved Case Squad, based out of the Public Safety Building in Towson, also accepts tips by text at 443-862-9426 or by email at [email protected], according to Baltimore County Government. Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland, a nonprofit separate from the county, also offers cash rewards of up to $2,000 for anonymous tips leading to an arrest and indictment in unsolved Baltimore County felony cases, submitted by phone, online, or through a mobile app.
A Familiar Pattern in Dundalk Cold Cases
Dixon's case fits into a broader pattern of unresolved violence in Dundalk stretching back decades. In May 1982, 92-year-old Margaret Estelle Jones, known locally as “Mama Hubcap” for the small hubcap business she ran from her yard, was found dead from severe upper-body trauma inside her North Point Boulevard home — a case Hoodline has reported remains open. The following year, Navy veteran John “Jeep” Dlubala was fatally shot on a back porch in the 6900 block of German Hill Road, a case Hoodline covered as still unsolved after four decades. And in July 1983, Auto Liquidators owners Joe and Helen “Toby” Magaskie were found stabbed to death in their ransacked Eder Road home, a case Hoodline detailed as one where a killer remains at large.
Baltimore County's Homicide Cold Case Squad regularly reviews dormant files and uses social media outreach to solicit fresh tips on cases like these. Forensic advances have occasionally paid off elsewhere in the county — a partnership with Greater Baltimore Medical Center that transferred more than 1,400 historical cold-case evidence slides to police has led to 49 convictions, according to GBMC HealthCare. Whether similar forensic testing is being applied to physical evidence from the Four Georges Court fire scene remains unclear. Arson has intertwined with unsolved Baltimore County homicides before, including the 2006 case of Nina Tarkovskaya, whose body was found and whose minivan was burned about four miles away — related Hoodline coverage.
