Thirteen-year-old Talita Dixon was killed on October 8, 1985. Her body was found on a trail in Redwood Regional Park in the Oakland hills; she had been stabbed multiple times and her mother, Marsha Dixon Showers, recalled seeing her child with a broken neck and a dislocated arm. Talita had just celebrated her birthday and had recently begun walking to school alone for the first time.

Her murder was one of a series that terrorized the East Bay in 1984–1986. Authorities later linked the killings to Anthony McKnight, a former Navy sailor who was convicted in the 1980s for rapes and attempted murders, and in 1999 DNA evidence connected him to five female victims including Talita. Those five — Betty Stuart, Diane Stone, Talita Dixon, Monique Davis and Beverly Bryant — were sexually assaulted and killed, with victims suffering stab wounds or fatal blows to the head.

Talita’s mother said she felt deep pain but was grateful to live to see McKnight die in prison; she also said the loss would never fully heal.