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The Chicago-based disability-advocacy group FRIDA (Feminist Response in Disability Activism) took to the streets of Alton, Illinois on May 31 to protest the murder of a woman with cognitive disabilities by her housemates and caretakers.

Dorothy Dixon, who had a cognitive disability, was tortured to death over a two-month period before her body was eventually found by investigators on January 31 of this year.

Police say that Dixon, who was pregnant at the time, was shot with a BB gun, scalded with burning water, beaten with a wooden plunger, and subjected to various other forms of torture.

Charged with Dixon’s murder—and that of her unborn child—was her caregiver Michelle Riley along with three teenagers and a 12-year-old child.

The memorial march began at IMPACT Inc., “a self-help, advocacy organization” for people with disabilities, where participants spoke passionately about their feelings about Dixon’s murder and abuse towards those with disabilities.

Then, approximately 30 activists walked and wheeled ¾ of a mile under a blazing hot sun to Dixon’s former home, while chanting slogans such as “What do we want? Justice!  When do we want it? Now!,” and “Up with respect! Down with abuse!”

“We went through a residential neighborhood that had a mix of working class and poor homes. We saw a few other folks with disabilities,” wrote FRIDA activist Amber Smock on the organization’s blog.

Upon arriving, the group met held a moment of silence and met with the house’s current owners, Jessie and Robbin Hicks, who were sympathetic to their cause.

"I support any of this because I hate to see this happen to any female; it's just wrong,"  Robbin Hicks said, adding that she was unaware of the murder before purchasing the home.

The FRIDA members—many of whom either have disabilities or friends or relatives with disabilities—conceived the march as a way to not only remember Dixon’s death, but to draw attention to the issue of abuse in the disability community in general.

According to the group, those with disabilities are “historically more likely to become victims of physical violence, as well as emotional and financial abuse.” Women with disabilities are more likely to be targeted as well.

“No one knows what’s it’s like to go through that unless it’s being done to you,” said FRIDA member Veronica Martinez.  “If someone was planning to do that to me, I would like to be prepared.”

The FRIDA members, who describe themselves as “a group of radicalized women with disabilities,” were looking to raise consciousness to an issue that doesn’t get near the attention it deserves, and in the process many felt the emotional effects of memorializing a horrific murder.

“At the end of the day, I was still enormously angry and sad, but I also felt empowered and powerful,” Smock said on FRIDA’s blog.  “We hurdled so many barriers to get this done—and we made it.”

The group is considering returning to Alton on a yearly basis, and possibly  establishing an annual Dorothy Dixon Memorial Parade.