2 sentenced in 2019 death of Chicago mother hit by stray bullet

CHICAGO (AP) — Two men have been sentenced to more than 50 years in prison for the gang-related shooting death of a Chicago woman who was hit by a stray bullet as she was out shopping with her young sons.

A Cook County judge sentenced Bryant Mitchell, 27, and Marco Zabala, 28, on Tuesday after a jury convicted them last summer of first-degree murder in the death of 36-year-old Candice Dickerson and a charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm.

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Mitchell was sentenced to 56 years in prison and Zabala to 51, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Dickerson, a mother of three and a pharmacy technician at Norwegian American Hospital, was at a store in April 2019 looking for a new cellphone to reward one of her sons for his educational achievements.

She was talking to a store employee and standing near two of her sons, then ages 10 and 12, when a bullet came through a store window and struck her in the head. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Mitchell and Zabala, who prosecutors said were members of the Satan’s Disciples street gang, were charged in Dickerson’s death in May 2019.

Video of the attack showed the Chicago men and another Satan’s Disciples member flashing rival gang signs at some men in a car moments before Zabala retrieved a gun and handed it to Mitchell, who fired five shots at the car, authorities said.