The mother of a former star high school football player wept Tuesday outside an Allegheny County courtroom after her son's killer was found guilty of first-degree murder. "It's a victory of a tragic loss," said Valerie Dixon, after Cordell "Dale" Broadus was convicted in the fatal shooting of her son, Robert Houston-Dixon, 22, on June 25. "It intensifies the loss, really," she said. "But it justifies that you cannot just murder people. It's inhumane." Broadus, 20, of Lincoln-Lemington, was convicted by a jury of seven men and five women, which deliberated three hours and 15 minutes before returning its verdict in the courtroom of Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel. The judge ordered that Broadus, who had claimed the shooting was self-defense, return to her courtroom today for formal sentencing. First-degree murder carries a mandatory life term without the chance of parole. Broadus is being held in the Allegheny County Jail. Houston-Dixon, who was a star linebacker and running back on three City League championship teams at Westinghouse High School, was shot in the head, chest, stomach and thigh in the 6700 block of Rowan Street, Lincoln-Lemington. In 1996, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review honored Houston-Dixon as the Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Trophy Co. Outstanding Athlete, and he was named to the Tribune-Review Terrific 25 All-Star High School Football Team. First Assistant District Attorney Edward Borkowski told the jury that Houston-Dixon had returned to the streets after an injury forced the end of his football career at a California junior college. The prosecutor said Broadus shot the unarmed victim, then dropped a bag of crack cocaine worth about $500 on his chest as a symbol of disrespect, meaning this was "no longer your territory." But the victim's mother said the case was "made into a drug issue. You heard the testimony. They weren't …. drug kings. It was the same reason Cain killed Abel. Pure jealousy and envy. And that was the bottom line." Rob Dixon, the victim's father, said, "That's my only son. My only child. That little boy brought a whole bunch of joy when he came into this world. He was quite a guy. I wouldn't give him up for nothing in this world." The jury rejected Broadus' claim that the shooting was in self-defense. Broadus, who admitted an earlier confrontation with the victim, testified that he tried to sell a .38-caliber gun to Houston-Dixon, who allegedly took it from him and said, "Now you're buying it from me." Borkowski had belittled Broadus' claim that he was able to shove "this accomplished athlete who was bigger and stronger," cause Houston-Dixon to drop the gun and then pick it up faster than the victim. The prosecutor also wondered how Houston-Dixon was struck with all four shots fired by Broadus, who claimed he closed his eyes and fired until the gun was empty.

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