Victim's family demands accountability in mass shooting death of Bakersfield woman
Feb. 20—Behind every project — from a bridge to a swingset — is a person who envisioned it. For the paved bike loop around California State University, Bakersfield, the mind behind it was Kate Nixon.
As a Bakersfield native, Katherine Nixon was a Driller, graduating class of 1994. Then she was a wildcat, attending the engineering program at Chico State University.
She convinced her then-boyfriend Jason to attend and the two graduated before being married in Catalina in 2000.
"First time I ever saw the West Coast was because of her," Jason Nixon said. "She was my best friend."
Katherine lived a lifetime in Bakersfield before moving to the East Coast. She taught AP English at Bakersfield High School and through her father's engineering firm Lusich Engineering, she designed the bike path at CSUB. She also reworked flood maps along Isabella Lake and the Kern River around Bakersfield.
"She lived in Bakersfield her whole life before meeting me," Jason Nixon said. "She was a rockstar engineer; she made Bakersfield proud."
The two left in 2009, for Virginia Beach, Va., where she became an engineer for the city's Public Utilities Department.
In 2019, a decade later, Katherine Nixon and 11 co-workers were killed in a mass shooting. The assailant, DeWayne Craddock, a disgruntled city employee, fatally shot 12 people and wounded four others before being killed by police. Katherine was 42, and left behind her husband and three children, including a newborn.
Four years later, Jason Nixon is still searching for accountability by the city.
Nixon said that Katherine spoke of Craddock often, complaining that the man had a history of sexual harassment, mood swings, poor quality of work and faced write-ups on several occasions.
"The guy was going to be fired," Nixon said. "Kate complained about him all the time, told her boss all the time — she was concerned about the guy. But they just buried that in the sand."
Yet Virginia Beach police concluded in their 2021 investigation that they couldn't determine a motive for the killings.
"Despite exhaustive investigative work and in spite of unsubstantiated rumors and accusations, it appears we may never know why he committed this heinous act," the investigative report read.
The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit concluded in their June 2021 report that "only the shooter knew the real reason why he committed this horrific act of violence" but did find that a motive against Craddock's coworkers did exist.
"The shooter's perceived grievances began taking shape as early as 2014," read the FBI's Behavioral Analysis report. "And he purposely isolated himself by disengaging from relationships to conceal his intentions. For this reason, BAU assesses that no individual or group was in a position to see the confluence of behaviors that may have forewarned the attack."
The killings drew international attention and with that, the families of the victims believed, would come some resolution. What resulted was $1.5 million for the 12 families — mandatory workers compensation — and the building was renovated into a police station.
"It's the absolute bare minimum they've gotten," Virginia attorney Justin Fairfax said. "It's not nearly sufficient to cover what these families have lost."
They still have his wife's journals and even took away their health insurance plan.
"They told me that 'technically, Kate didn't retire,'" Nixon said. "Is that fair?"
Jason is now making a final push. On Feb. 25, the Virginia General Assembly will adjourn their session for the year. Fairfax, who represents seven of the 12 families, is vying for Assembly members to include $40 million in the state's 2023-24 budget — $25 million of which would go to the 12 families, while the other $15 million to the more than 400 people in the building on the day of the killings.
The amount constitutes .0005 percent of the state's projected $80 billion budget.
"We are asking for, relatively speaking, an amount that does not have a massive impact on our budget but has a massive impact on the lives of hundreds of people in Virginia Beach," Fairfax said.
Fairfax and Jason have reached out to nearly every representative in Virginia, from city councils up to senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner to Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
"I've had positive discussions with the governor's cabinet, delegates and senators," Fairfax said. "But as of right now, we haven't seen any concrete numbers."
The state's Attorney General Jason Miyares blasted Virginia Beach's City Council, saying he was "incredibly disappointed" with their committee investigation.
In a January statement, Youngkin proposed a $10 million fund "to support the long-term costs associated with recovery," as well as future laws that penalize gun-related crimes and a $230 million "behavioral health plan that delivers help when people need it."
"That is a general proposal for acts of mass violence and we think the concept is good," Fairfax said. "We want separate support for families because it's been nearly four years and this has already happened. We're not talking about prospective tragedy — we're talking about a tragedy that was international in scope of city employees just doing their job.
"And the world saw it," he continued. "And now the world needs to see Virginia come to their aid."
Jason Nixon is now reaching out to congressional leaders in Katherine's hometown. On Thursday, he said he contacted staff for Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield. Jason said he's just looking for validation, someone "from the outside looking in that can say 'this isn't right.'"
He plans to go to Washington, D.C. within the next week, as soon as he hears back from McCarthy's staff. Jason is hopeful that McCarthy will get back to him, adding that "the McCarthys and the Dandys — Kate's family — are close."
"I told them I would do anything on their schedule before Feb. 25," Jason said. "I just want a few minutes with him — I'll take him out to lunch, buy him something at the cafeteria even."
McCarthy's office did not immediately respond to request for comment.
