Suspect in Fatal Crash Has History of Traffic Violations

After fleeing a hit-and-run, Cedric Dixon turned himself in last week

Written by RYAN KRULL AND MONICA OBRADOVIC

The man charged with causing a crash on South Grand Boulevard that took four lives on February 26 has a history of flouting traffic laws in both St. Louis and the Metro East.

Written by RYAN KRULL

The alleged cult that in 2021 bought a Wildwood mansion from Nelly is now trying to buy a 284-acre property in Florissant where Boeing used to operate its Leadership Center.

According to an individual familiar with the Kingdom of God Global Church’s business dealings, the organization is attempting to take out a $25 million loan in order to purchase the sprawling property, which until the fall of 2020 was used by Boeing for corporate retreats and training.

According to a brochure for the property on New Halls Ferry Road, the site contains dining and educational facili-

Cedric Dixon, 34, of St. Louis has been charged with 17 crimes after police say he fled the scene of a crash he caused in Midtown. Four people died and four more were injured.

Court records show Dixon has a history of traffic violations dating back about a decade.

In February 2015, Maplewood police ticketed Dixon for driving on a suspended license and without insurance. The following year, he was again ticketed for driving on a suspended license by police in St. Ann. In November 2017 in Brooklyn, Illinois, he was cited for driving on a suspended license a third time.

In April 2019, Dixon faced a slew of charges including two felonies for fleeing the police and being found in possession of a controlled substance. He was also ticketed for driving with a suspended license and without insurance. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was given probation, which he completed in June of last year.

While on probation in Illinois in March 2021, the Missouri High- way patrol ticketed Dixon for driving on a suspended license on a highway near Spanish Lake.

According to St. Louis Police, Dixon’s reckless driving led to a fatal accident. Police say he was traveling southbound on South Grand in the small hours of February 26 when he swerved into northbound lanes to get around stopped traffic. Dixon then ran a red light and collided with a Chevy Tahoe that was traveling west on Forest Park Avenue, causing the Tahoe to fall off of the overpass and land on its roof in the westbound lanes of Forest Park Parkway.

Four of the Tahoe’s eight passengers were pronounced dead at the scene: Bryanna Johnson, 18; Anthony Robinson, 19; Contrail McKinley, 20; and Richard Boyd, 19. The other four passengers were critically injured.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office has charged Dixon with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, eight counts of armed criminal action, four counts of assault and one count of leaving the scene of an accident.

Police allege Dixon removed his license plate and fled the scene. But two Saint Louis University security guards responded to the accident and spoke to Dixon before he fled. Further investigation led police to Dixon’s identity. Dixon turned himself in last week, KSDK reports. n feet, including 204 private rooms as well as a cafeteria and dining facilities similar to those on college campuses. The property is adorned by a chateau and a carriage house adjacent to tennis and basketball courts. The structures are surrounded by five miles of hiking trails. ties, as well as conference rooms, classrooms and residential lodges.

The Boeing property is about a 30-minute drive north of St. Louis at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The land once belonged to the wealthy Desloge family, whose roots in Missouri go back more than two centuries.

Boeing acquired the property when it merged with fellow aerospace giant McDonnell Douglas in 1997. The Boeing Leadership Center opened in 1999.

Reached for comment, Joseph Busch, a preacher with the church whose name is on a loan application obtained by the RFT, said he would have to run the query by the church’s executive team. We never heard back.

The Kingdom of God Global Church currently owns nine properties in west St. Louis County, including the Wildwood mansion and a five-bed, nine-bath mansion in Chesterfield valued at $2 million.

Past local properties owned by the church have drawn scrutiny from neigh- bors, who have complained of large numbers of people living on site. At one property in Chesterfield, which the church has since sold, neighbors said that dozens of people were living in the home and working on site in what appeared to be a callcenter operation.

The church is led by 50-year-old David E. Taylor, who has boasted of raising people from the dead.

While the church owns millions of dollars’ worth of property in the St. Louis area, the Boeing property would be on another level entirely. A brochure advertises buildings totaling 300,000 square

One California facilities manager told an industry publication in 2000 that the campus was a “velvet prison,” because while the amenities were top-notch, almost all the Boeing employees who went there for training and corporate retreats didn’t have a car, and there was nowhere else to walk to.

The source familiar with the church’s business dealings spoke to the RFT on the condition of anonymity for fear of drawing the group’s animus. He proved his bona fides by providing more than 20 of the church’s bank statements, a loan application, paperwork from the IRS

Continued on pg 15 granting the church tax-exempt status and a photocopy of Taylor’s passport.

The source tells the RFT that he aided the church in its attempts to buy a hotel in Houston as well as with its attempts to secure financing for the Boeing property.

The loan application for the Houston hotel says that the church has almost $7 million in a savings account and has brought in $26 million in gross revenue over the past two years. Curiously, on the loan application for the hotel in Texas, the church listed its street address as 16805 New Halls Ferry Road, which is the address for the Boeing Leadership Center property.

The source says the church is still actively trying to buy the property but that Boeing appears hesitant to sell to it.

The source says a loan applicant listing as a street address a property it doesn’t own is odd but on par with the unusual manner in which he has seen Taylor’s church conduct business. Business representatives for the church were prone to long phone calls at irregular hours, the source says. He adds that representatives from the church often referred to “having to check with” a board of directors but that he came to suspect this board doesn’t actually exist.

In 2019, the News-Herald of Southgate, Michigan, published a lengthy investigation of Joshua Media Ministries International, another organization run by Taylor. An individual who left the church told reporter Colin Maloney that at a property southwest of Detroit, numerous people spent hours a day coldcalling and messaging people on Facebook to solicit donations. Some of these people lived at the church, sleeping on mattresses or pieces of plywood, the former member said. Maloney reported that tax records show the church brings in millions of dollars a year in Michigan. The church also operates a “dream interpretation phone line.”

Former members told Maloney the church is a “slave labor cult.” They described working long hours in the church’s call center, as well as witnessing physical assaults. They also said Taylor frequently had sexual relations with female church members.

The source familiar with the church’s business dealings tells the RFT that the church is increasingly having trouble securing financing for its purchases. He cites one instance in which it received preliminary approval from a lender that specializes in loans to faith-based organizations.

However, the source alleges that the lender scuttled the deal once it did its due diligence.

“As soon as they googled him, they saw all the negativity out there,” the source says. n