Pennsauken teen's killer gets 20 years

A Camden man who confessed to killing a Pennsauken High School student nearly eight years ago after she refused to have sex with him was sentenced today to 20 years in state prison.

Warren Dixon, 25, charged after a lengthy and painstaking probe by county detectives and local police, admitted to authorities that he strangled Sherita Williams and left her body under the 36th Street Bridge in Pennsauken on Nov. 29, 2003.

Williams was 16 at the time.

In imposing the sentence, Camden County Superior Court Judge Samuel Natal said, "I can think of no crime more terrifying to the community than the homicide of a young woman during the course of an attempt to sexually assault her."

Authorities said Williams was walking home from her boyfriend's house when she was confronted by Dixon, a fellow student at Pennsauken High.

Dixon pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter and attempted sexual assault in March. He had a previous conviction for drug dealing.