Delco man whose gunfire sparked the police shooting of Fanta Bility was sentenced to state prison

A Darby man whose gunfire set off a chain of events that led to the police killing of 8-year-old Fanta Bility was sentenced Friday to 14 to 28 years in state prison.

Angelo “AJ” Ford, 19, had little emotion when Delaware County Court Judge G. Michael Green handed down the sentence for attempted murder, aggravated assault, and related crimes of which Ford was convicted in June. Those charges stemmed from a 2021 shooting in Sharon Hill on the night Fanta was killed by three borough police officers.

The sentence also covered four other criminal cases in whichFord pleaded guilty this week for assaults, possession of contraband, and other crimes he committed while incarcerated in the county jail.

“I am not, by this sentence, attempting to cast blame on Angelo Ford” for the death of Fanta, Green said. “But, Mr. Ford, you played a significant role by casting gunfire on a crowded street.”

Ford was 15 years old when he pulled a .45-caliber handgun from his waistband and fired at Hassein Strand, 21, outside of a football game at Academy Park High School in August 2021. Strand, part of a group that had argued with Ford inside the stadium, returned fire.

Prosecutors said Friday that Ford was acting on behalf of NG8-12, a street gang that had become his adopted family, and wanted to prove his worth by targeting members of a rival gang, including Strand.

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“There is not loss of life that night if AJ Ford doesn’t bring a gun,” Deputy District Attorney Laurie Moore said. “Fanta would still be here. She’d be 11 years old.”

A bystander, Hafize Sharif, was injured in the shooting. And the gunfire alerted three now-former Sharon Hill police officers, who were nearby and opened fire on a car they mistakenly believed was the source of the shooting. One of their bullets struck Fanta as she left the game with her family.

Ford’s criminal behavior didn’t end that night, according to Moore. He fled a juvenile facility after his arrest in the case, eluding police for over a year as he posted Instagram videos taunting his pursuers and waving around guns. He issued threats to his enemies, including Strand, whose nickname he superimposed over a bullet in one post shown in court.

And when police finally caught up with him in 2023, Ford continued to act violently, Moore said. He assaulted a guard at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, sucker-punching him when his back was turned. In other incidents, he hid homemade knives in his cell, lit fires using the cell’s light fixture, and attacked guards transporting him back to his cell.

“He hasn’t accepted responsibility for his actions,” Moore said. “He hasn’t thought once about anyone but AJ Ford in the history of this case.”

Ford’s attorney, Mary Beth Welch, said prosecutors had unfairly painted him as an uncaring, unfeeling criminal. She asked the judge for leniency, hoping he’d match the three-to-six-year sentence that Strand received after pleading guilty to his role in the shooting.

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

Ford had struggled with a traumatic, turbulent childhood, born to a teenage father who was in jail and a mother who abandoned him to a relative, according to Welch. Those early experiences left a lifelong mark on Ford’s mental health, leading to behavioral disorders and learning disabilities, she said.

As a child, he threatened suicide after his mother ignored him when he happened to cross paths with her on the street. Later attempts to connect with his father ended with him being physically abused.

He fell under the negative influence of a street gang, Welch said, because he felt like his family didn’t want him, and he yearned for a group that did. What followed almost immediately were arrests for stealing a car and possessing an illegal gun, months before the shooting at Academy Park.

“AJ Ford needs a path to resolve what has happened and to see a way forward,” Welch said. “He is not a 40-year-old man; he has not had the opportunity to fix things.”

Green, in handing down the sentence, made it clear that he believed Ford’s supporters when they said he showed promise of rehabilitation. But he said the gravity of Ford’s crimes actions on the night of Fanta’s death, and in the years since warranted a long sentence.