A University of Notre Dame employee and doctoral candidate has been charged in the killing of her ex-boyfriend in Washington D.C.

According to court documents, Nijinsky Dix, 37, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder for the shooting of Terry Hickman, 44, on Saturday. Dix’s charges have been amended to first-degree murder, police records indicated.

At roughly 5:30 p.m., Metro D.C. police officers responded to a call regarding shots being fired in the 1000 block of Fourth Street, Southwest, according to a statement from the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia. Officers arrived at the scene and discovered Dix kneeling over Hickman’s lifeless body,  holding the alleged murder weapon, court documents reported.

The accused reportedly told officers that she shot him in response to being pushed. 

“He pushed me, and I shot him,” Dix told law enforcement at the scene.

According to court records, a family member informed police that the doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago had been stalking Hickman, although she lived in another state. 

The same person confirmed that Hickman and Dix had a short-lived relationship that ended in May.

The court papers further revealed that a witness reported seeing the couple shortly before the shooting occurred in a parking garage. Other witnesses said they saw a woman pacing on a balcony after hearing cries for help that evening.

Dix was examined by physicians after she reportedly “blacked out” and lost her memory. Although doctors stated that Dix did not show signs of the reported physical assault, they did find a small abrasion on the inside of her lip. Physicians could not give a medical reason for the alleged memory loss. 

According to court records, when police continued questioning Dix at the station, she asked for officers to help jog her memory, to which the officers showed her a photo of the deceased man. 

The woman allegedly became hysterical.

“Get it away from me,” she cried. “You don’t do people you love like that; that’s not love. I’m sorry.” 

Dix’s LinkedIn account lists her current work position as the TRIO program director at University of Notre Dame, but she has also held positions as a professor and was a 2005 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Florida A&M University.

Although no motive for the killing has been determined, a relative of the deceased man said in the statement that Hickman was moving to Chicago and had started a new relationship.