After wrapping up his initial season playing professional football abroad, South Carolina’s own Ty’Ran Dixon couldn’t wait to reunite with his family. Unfortunately, upon landing at Boston Logan International Airport in Massachusetts, instead of joyful hugs, he was confronted by law enforcement officials who arrested him under a warrant for first-degree murder.
The 26-year-old found himself in handcuffs and ended up spending a night behind bars before learning he had been falsely implicated in the tragic shooting death of Jasmine Roach, a 21-year-old mother-to-be who was killed in October 2023—something that WJBF reported on in detail. Along with her, others were shot in the ordeal.
This shocking incident sparked a nationwide search for the real assailant, but it was later revealed that a clerical error led to Dixon being wrongly arrested. Recent documents connected to a civil lawsuit—obtainable by The State—detailed the hardships he endured.
All in all, Dixon spent 67 mind-numbing days shuffled between various jails in different states, with a significant chunk of that time in solitary confinement, an experience he faced for a crime he did not commit. He was finally Xfered to Columbus, S.C. once officials recognized they’d made a gross mistake and released him.
The whole episode boiled down to a mix-up made during the paperwork process. Court documents indicated that Barnwell County Sheriff Steven Griffith was informed just hours post-murder by a reliable source who managed to provide the correct suspect’s details—specifically the name Tyren Dickson. Somehow, amidst the chaos, this individual’s name was confused with Dixon’s name, leading to the erroneous warrant being issued.
“It’s insane—they don’t even look alike, and the names aren’t even similar,” expressed Dixon. “Let’s not forget: the dude weighs 180 pounds; I’m 300. It just doesn’t add up!” Now the football player, feeling wronged, has initiated legal action. “There’s no evidence tying me to this at all, yet I still wound up in jail,” he stated, as reported by WRDW.
Dixon made the initial legal move against the sheriff’s department in April 2025, and a few months later, he filed additional claims targeting specific deputies involved.
The ongoing lawsuit addresses how police disregarded Dixon’s alibi that put him a good 80 miles away when the murder took place, as reported by WRDW. Robert Goings, Dixon’s lawyer, commented to McClatchy News: “We often take our freedoms for granted until they’re taken away unjustly.”
The lawsuit also points out that had the authorities conducted a basic search on Dixon, they would have come across information relating to his football career, surprisingly including pictures and social media profiles of the 26-year-old. Legal representatives claim the wrongful arrest reflects, “fundamental failures in police investigations, epitomizing unprofessional, incompetent, and wholly indefensible actions by the Barnwell County Sheriff’s Office.”
In response to the first legal filing, the Barnwell County Sheriff’s Department insisted that the mistake was completely unintentional and devoid of any malicious intent.
