FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 16, 2025
Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 25 Years to Life in Prison
For Fatally Shooting Construction Worker, Injuring a Second Worker
Grandmother Killed in Dispute Over Employment at Job Site in Coney Island
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of a construction worker in a broad daylight shooting outside a Coney Island job site. The defendant opened fire on a group of workers, killing a 53-year-old grandmother and wounding another individual.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This was a senseless act of violence that took the life of a hardworking woman, devastating her family. Dorothy Dixon was a mother of six and grandmother of many more who was just trying to earn a living when her life was viciously cut short. Gun violence is now at record lows in Brooklyn and my office is committed to further driving down shootings and holding people such as this defendant responsible for their actions.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Malik Fryar, 34, of Coney Island, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Phyllis Chu to 25 years to life in prison. The defendant was convicted of second-degree murder on September 3, 2025, following a jury trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on February 4, 2019, at approximately 11:40 a.m., the defendant approached a construction site on West 33rd Street in Coney Island where Dorothy Dixon, 53, and other construction laborers were gathered seeking work. The defendant, who was also seeking work, drove his vehicle up to the scene with his wife in the passenger seat, exited the vehicle and began arguing with one of the workers over job opportunities. After the dispute became heated, the defendant returned to his vehicle, retrieved a loaded, illegal firearm and fired multiple shots toward the group, striking Dixon several times. Another worker was struck in the foot by the gunfire as he fled.
Dixon was later pronounced dead at the hospital and the surviving victim was treated for his injuries. The defendant fled on foot to his nearby residence while his wife drove the car to an unknown location. The car was recovered about a month later, abandoned approximately five miles away in Brighton Beach. The defendant was arrested on July 17, 2019, when members of the NYPD Warrants Squad discovered him in an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan
attempting to escape through an air conditioner duct.
The District Attorney thanked Homicide Paralegals John Homnick and Andy Wang, Intelligence Analyst Victoria Genna-Schmidt and Victim Advocate Catherine Cruz for their assistance in the investigation
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Christopher Mirabella, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Khrystyna Sahin, of the District Attorney’s Green Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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