2 held in disabled man's killing

FALL RIVER -- Two Fall River men were ordered held without bail yesterday in the killing of a wheelchair-bound man, who prosecutors said begged for his life before being stabbed and thrown down four flights of stairs.

Rey Davila, 29, was found slain last Wednesday night in the high-rise apartment complex where he lived. He had been slashed in the neck and chest, police said.

Fred Dixon, 35, and Felix Marrero, 23, pleaded not guilty to murder charges yesterday in Fall River District Court. They were arrested Friday. Dixon lived in the same complex, Ships' Cove Apartments on Canal Street, as Davila.

Dixon and Marrero are due back in court Aug. 10.

Dixon and Marrero entered Davila's fourth-floor apartment Wednesday night, prosecutors said. A neighbor heard Davila scream, ''Please, please! No, no! " said Joe DeMedeiros, spokesman for Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr.

A neighbor then heard a dragging noise in the hallway, DeMedeiros said. Prosecutors alleged that Davila was thrown from the fourth floor to the ground floor. His body and wheelchair were found in a stairwell. The cause of death was a dislocated neck, DeMedeiros said.

Neighbors said Davila leaves a daughter and girlfriend.

A resident of the complex, Raymond Zimmerman, 51, told The Standard Times of New Bedford last week that he was relaxing outside minutes before the killing. He said Davila headed into the building so fast that his wheelchair almost clipped a wall. ''I told Rey, 'How you doing?' He didn't say nothing," Zimmerman said. ''He was upset."