Arrest Made In East Austin Homicide Once Thought To Be Fiery Car Crash

EAST AUSTIN, TX -- Police made an arrest on Wednesday in connection with a case in East Austin involving a dead person in a burning car who later turned out to be a homicide victim.

The case stems from a March 1 call at about 7 a.m. to the 4600 block of Springdale Road about a burning vehicle. Inside, police found a dead body, and were initially unsure if the deceased died as a result of a wreck or in some other manner.

A subsequent investigation revealed the man, identified as Carlos Swist, 43, had died of a gunshot wound before the car was set ablaze. Arrested on Wednesday for the homicide was 44-year-old Dedric Darnell Dixon.

An autopsy performed on March 2 determined Swist had died of the gunshot wound, police noted. It was then that homicide detectives were called to investigate, which led police to arrest the man now charged with the crime.

Dixon is now jailed for first-degree murder, with a bail set at $500,000, police said.