Soldier's murderer released

Associated Press/July 30, 2004

Houston -- The family of a slain black Houston Marine was outraged by the parole of one of the teenage white supremacists convicted in his death.

Marine Lance Cpl. Tarron Dixon was shot to death outside his parents' Houston home in 1991, shortly after his return from duty in the Persian Gulf and Panama.

His mother, Dorothy Dixon, told the Houston Chronicle she was shocked to learn of the parole of Donald Riley, one of the men convicted in the slaying. She said the state approved Riley's parole without consulting the Dixon family. The Dixon was not informed until Thursday.

Riley remained in prison pending approval of his parole plan. He was a 19-year-old, three-time convicted drug offender on parole when the shooting happened.

Investigators say he and other Brazoria County teens went to Houston with the intention of committing a hate crime.

Riley and two others had been sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. Another man was convicted on a lesser charge.