LONGVIEW – Gregory Newson was sentenced to death for murdering a police officer in 2019.
On December 31, 2019, Deputy William Christopher Dickerson was murdered by Newson during a traffic stop in Panola County around 2:00 AM while traveling through East Texas from his home in Shreveport, Louisiana. Newson was transporting a large quantity of marijuana, $5,500 in cash, and an illegally possessed AR-15 with a 60-round capacity drum magazine loaded with armor-piercing bullets. Prosecutors believe Newson murdered Deputy Dickerson to avoid being arrested for the contraband he was carrying across state lines.
After being pulled over, Newson leaped from his vehicle and began firing at Deputy Dickerson, striking the officer multiple times. Dickerson returned fire as he was falling to the ground and struck Newson in the legs causing non-life-threatening injuries. Newson fled the scene, leaving Dickerson to die from his injuries on the side of the road.
During the subsequent chase, Newson fired on other officers before rolling his car over and being apprehended. He was in custody approximately an hour after the murder of Deputy Dickerson and still possessed the murder weapon, a large quantity of additional ammunition, marijuana, and cash.
Newson was charged with capital murder of a peace officer. The jury unanimously held that Newson was a continuing threat to society and no mitigating factors existed that would prevent him from being put to death for his crimes.
The Office of the Attorney General’s Criminal Prosecutions Division, represented by Assistant Attorneys General Natalie Tise, Wesley Mau, and Matthew Ottoway, was pro tem in this capital murder prosecution. Prosecutors Tise, Mau, and Ottoway were assisted in the trial of this case by legal assistant Michael Roberts and Sergeant David Fugitt of the Criminal Investigations Division.