Felon will spend life in prison for attack, sexual assault of woman on Coast fishing trip

A Jackson County jury deliberated for less than an hour before convicting a Coast man of sexual battery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Dion Neal, 46, was sentenced to life in prison as a habitual offender for overpowering and sexually assaulting a woman while threatening her with a gun in the back seat of his car in March 2018.

Neal and the victim were out fishing around midnight off CCC Camp Road when the assault occurred. The victim eventually managed to escape and fled the car half naked and located two strangers that called 911.

“He overpowered her, not only with his size but with a gun,” Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Lewis said in her closing argument. “Her pants and panties inside out on the ground … that is what sexual battery looks like.” ADA Nikki Huffman prosecuted the case alongside Lewis.

Defense attorney Adrianne Crawford Rhoads argued in her closing statement that prosecutors had failed to prove their case.

“We’re asking you to find Dion not guilty because the state has not proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Rhoads, who defended Neal along with attorney Tyler Cox, said in court.

The defense pointed to a lack of DNA evidence and other details in their closing argument as reasons to find their client not guilty.

Neal was sentenced as a habitual offender. He was convicted of armed robbery in 1995 and murder in 2000.

“We tried to get Mr. Neal to plead,” Cox said after the verdict was rendered. “Mr. Neal thought it was in his best interests to take this case to trial over our objections and advice ... at the end of the day, justice was served. That’s a great thing we have in our country, and I stand by that.”

Judge Kathy King Jackson handed down Neal’s sentence.

This story was originally published October 11, 2022 at 1:53 PM.