GAINESVILLE – The three men convicted of murder in the death of a Hall County sheriff’s deputy who was killed during a shootout were sentenced to life during a hearing in Hall County on Thursday, July 8.
Hector Garcia-Solis was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and Eric Velazquez and London Clements were sentenced to life with 30 of those to be served behind bars in connection to the shooting death of Hall County Sheriff’s Deputy Blane Dixon.
Garcia-Solis and his cousin Velazquez were found guilty of malice murder in the fatal 2019 shooting of Dixon. Clements was found guilty of the less serious charge of felony murder.
All three were 17 years old at the time of the shooting.
A fourth defendant, Brayan Cruz, was not tried alongside the other three. He testified against them. Northeastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Lee Darragh didn’t say how prosecutors would handle charges against Cruz.
Judge Jason Deal handed down the sentences on the second anniversary of Dixon’s death. The 28-year-old deputy was mortally wounded while pursuing the suspected thieves in the area of Jesse Jewell Parkway and Highland Avenue on the night of July 8, 2019.
Dixon had just celebrated his first year as a patrol officer when he was killed. He served two years before that as a jailer with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
He is survived by his parents, wife, and two sons.
During sentencing, Garcia-Solis, who admitted to shooting Dixon, addressed Dixon’s family, saying “I’m truly sorry for what I’ve done to y’all” and saying he asks Dixon for forgiveness in his prayers.
“I do not forgive y’all at all,” Dixon’s father, Fred Dixon, said later.
