50 years in prison apiece for 2 gang members who fatally shot mom shopping with her sons

“It’s not stupidity. ... It’s a function of not caring about anything except channeling their gang animus toward some other gang member,” Judge Timothy Joyce said in handing down the sentences Tuesday.

SHARE 50 years in prison apiece for 2 gang members who fatally shot mom shopping with her sons
Candice Dickerson

Candice Dickerson was shot April 26, 2019, while shopping for a cellphone for one of her sons.

Facebook

Two gang members were each sentenced to more than 50 years in prison Tuesday for firing at rivals and instead killing a mother out shopping with her young sons.

Candice Dickerson, a mother of three and a pharmacy technician at Norwegian American Hospital, had been at a Metro PCS store on April 26, 2019, looking for a new cellphone to reward one of her sons for his achievements in school.

She was talking to a store employee and standing near two of her sons, 10 and 12, when a bullet came through the front window of the store at 5900 S. Kedzie Ave. and struck her in her head.

She was rushed to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was pronounced dead.

Candice Dickerson’s three sons attended a ceremony honoring their mother at Norwegian American Hospital.

Candice Dickerson’s three sons stand at a ceremony honoring their mother at Norwegian American Hospital in May 2019.

Sun-Times file

A jury convicted Bryant Mitchell, 27, and Marco Zabala, 28, last summer on charges of first-degree murder in Dickerson’s death, as well as counts of attempted murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm.

The sentences were handed down after Dickerson’s family and her best friend submitted statements to the court expressing their pain over her death and their grief that she did not get to see her sons grow up.

Dickerson had worked extra hours at the hospital to give her children the best life she could, and she still found time to help them with their homework, give them her attention and make their favorite meal: chicken Alfredo.

Dickerson’s mother said she missed the daily phone calls from her daughter, which were often filled with laughter.

Her sister, Nicole Dickerson, said the two men had “robbed Candice of all of the memories that go along with motherhood.” But she noted that they had robbed themselves and their own families, as well.

She asked that the judge send them to prison as a message to other gang members, but also where they couldn’t hurt another innocent person.

Bryant Mitchell

Bryant Mitchell

Chicago police

Video of the attack showed Mitchell, Zabala and another member of the Satan’s Disciples street gang flashing rival gang signs — “false flagging” — at a group of men in a Chrysler sedan moments before the shooting, prosecutors said.

Zabala then retrieved a gun and handed it to Mitchell, who fired five shots at the Chrysler on a busy street during the evening rush hour.

“This took place … on a sunny spring evening in the city of Chicago. I believe it was a weekday,” Judge Timothy Joyce stated. “There were a lot of people walking, driving through that intersection.”

Only one of the shots struck the Chrysler, and two others struck an ambulance returning to a fire station after a run to a hospital, authorities said.

Marco Zabala

Marco Zabala

Cook County sheriff’s office

Mitchell declined to give a statement Tuesday, but Zabala told Dickerson’s family he was sorry.

“I didn’t mean anything to happen, that’s all,” Zabala said.

Joyce said he understood neither had intended to kill the 36-year-old mother, but he believed that made their actions more damning.

“It’s not stupidity. ... It’s a function of not caring about anything except channeling their gang animus toward some other gang member,” the judge said.

Mitchell was sentenced to 56 years in prison; Zabala to 51.

Each was given credit for 1,341 days spent in jail waiting for their case to be resolved.

The Latest
The incident occurred about 3:40 p.m. near Minooka. The horse was successfully placed back into the trailer, and the highway reopened about 40 minutes later. No injuries were reported.
The Hawks conceded the game’s only two goals within the first seven minutes and were shut out for the 12th time this season in a 2-0 defeat Thursday.
Eileen O’Neill Burke is leading Clayton Harris III, 50.15% to 49.85%, a margin that changed only by hundredths of a percentage point, after city and suburban officials tallied more mail-in ballots Thursday.
Suspect Romeo Nance’s son witnessed the shooting of at least five relatives, according to Joliet police reports obtained through a public records request. The reports also indicate the child’s mother was more deeply involved in the case than first thought.