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The defendant was convicted of a shootout outside a soccer match that led to the death of a girl by the police

The defendant was convicted of a shootout outside a soccer match that led to the death of a girl by the police

MEDIA, Pa. (AP) — A man who was 15 when he was involved in a shooting outside a high school football game that set off a chain of events that ended in the death of an 8-year-old girl in Sharon Hill has been sentenced to 14 to 28 years imprisonment.

Nineteen-year-old Angelo Ford was convicted Friday in Delaware County of multiple counts, including attempted murder, aggravated assault and related charges, in connection with the 2021 Sharon Hill shooting that ultimately led to the death of Fanta Bility.

Prosecutors said Ford and a group of other men got into an argument while leaving an Academy Park High School football game in August 2021. Ford, then 15, pulled out a gun and exchanged gunfire with a 21-year-old man about a block away at the stadium, firing five times and another man firing twice, authorities said.

Authorities said two shots were fired at three Sharon Hill police officers who were watching the crowd leave the game. Officers opened fire toward the vehicle they believed was involved, and one of the rounds hit Bilita, who was leaving the game with her family, authorities said.

“There will be no deaths tonight if AJ Ford doesn’t take a gun with him,” Deputy District Attorney Lori Moore said. “Fanta will still be here. She would have been 11 years old.”

Moore sought a term of 32 to 67 years, citing trauma to the child’s family and the community. She also said Ford never showed an ounce of remorse while on the run from a juvenile facility after his arrest and eluding police for more than a year, when he posted videos on Instagram taunting his pursuers and brandishing a gun.

“He has not taken responsibility for his actions,” Moore said. “In the history of this case, he never thought of anyone but AJ Ford.”

Another participant in the shooting was sentenced to 32-64 months in prison. Three officers were fired and later pleaded guilty to criminal mischief. Last year, they were sentenced to five years of probation with the first 11 months of house arrest.

Defense attorney Mary Beth Welch asked for leniency for Ford, asking for a sentence similar to that given to the other defendant. She said her client had struggled with a traumatic childhood, conduct disorders and learning difficulties and had finally fallen under the influence of a street gang that led to the arrests before the shooting.

“You don’t have to punish him anymore,” Welch said. “A long term will break him and these charges will be a life sentence. He needs an opportunity to start over.”

Ford read a short statement in which he apologized to the victims, their families and his family, saying the case “took away my youth, I don’t want it to take away my life.”

Judge G. Michael Green said Friday that he does not blame Ford for the child’s death, but that the defendant “played a significant role” by shooting on a crowded street. Ford’s conviction related to the shooting, as well as assault, terroristic threats and weapons and other charges filed against him while he was in the county jail.

Green said he believed Ford could be rehabilitated and his statement was a “huge start”, but the seriousness of his actions outside the stadium and afterwards warranted a longer term. Ford was given credit for about two years already served.