WEST CHESTER -- The widow of the Chester County man who was shot and killed by a neighbor after a night on the town described what his loss meant to her and their family, as his assailant was sentenced to life in prison.
"I can't explain how this traumatic situation has been a huge heartbreak in mine and my children's lives, much more my children's," wrote Nichelle Hockaday, the partner of victim William Stafford, in a statement read by Deputy District Attorney Jessica Yurick on Tuesday.
"They went from seeing their dad everyday, being able to talk to him, hug him, tell him they loved him, to now, nothing for the past two years," wrote Hockaday, as Common Pleas Judge Allison Bell Royer listened."No matter what happened that night, it didn't give you the right to write my kid's father's life's ending."
She was referring to the account that defendant Quinzell Mickey gave during his trial in June, at which he was convicted of first-degree murder for the April 2023 shooting at a northern Chester County apartment complex where the two men lived. He said he believed that Stafford was armed and would shoot him, so he acted in self defense. That scenario was rejected by the jury, however.
"My kids will never be able to hear his voice again, to feel his touch or get a hug ever again because of you and the decision that you made on April 15, 2023," Hockaday wrote. "I hope this haunts you for the rest of what life you have left. He should be here with me and his kids."
The sentence that Royer handed down was the mandatory for the crime of first-degree murder. The judge, who presided over not only the June proceedings but also a previous trial that ended with a hung jury unable to reach a unanimous verdict, tried to put the matter in context in comments after imposing the life term without the possibility of parole.
"Unfortunately, we have a number of homicide trials in Chester County," said Royer. "There are a lot of people living here, and sometimes (things go wrong.)
"This was a sad case," Royer said. "You didn't start out that evening as anything others than friends. Now there are two victims, really. One is dead and Mr. Mickey, you are going to jail for the rest of your life. I wish you well."
In brief comments that Mickey made, he apologized for his actions, but said he had panicked and was was in "fear for his life."
The trial concerned the events of April 14 and 15, 2023, leading up to the shooting. Much of the prosecution's evidence included a series of surveillance videos captured on cameras that are stationed throughout the Park Springs apartment complex on Park Road northwest of Phoenixville, as well as some from the streets of the borough.
The shooting itself was seen in a grainy video partially obscured by the headlights of Stafford's Ford Taurus, which he and Mickey had driven to go to a series of bars in Phoenixville and a gentleman's club in Spring City.
In it, as watched by the jury and described in part by Chester County Detective Jonathan Shave, who along with Detective Christine Bleiler and the East Vincent Police Department led the investigation, Stafford is seen getting out of the passenger side of the car and Mickey on the driver's side.
The two men faced off across the car around 2:30 a.m on April 15, 2023, with Mickey eventually moving to the rear of the car near its trunk. At some point a bright flash is seen coming from Mickey's direction, and Stafford falls to the ground. Shave said that was the muzzle flash from a gun that Mickey had in his hand.
In his testimony, Mickey repeated the story he had told the jury in his first trial in February: that the pair had returned to the complex with him driving because Stafford was too intoxicated. They argued about Mickey's request that Stafford loan him his car so he could drive into Philadelphia to continue partying.
At some point, Mickey contended, Stafford go out of the car and went to the trunk to retrieve a bag. Inside, he found a gun that belonged to Mickey and came back to the car. Inside, the pair continue to argue, but Mickey said he saw the gun in Stafford hand and grabbed it, with Stafford grabbing the keys from the ignition.
When the two men got out of the car, Mickey said, he believed he saw a gun in Stafford's hand and shot him, in the belief that the other man planned to shoot him. But when he went to check Stafford as he lay on the ground, he found only a cell phone.
Stafford was shot three times, and had six gunshot wounds in his torso and leg.
Mickey ran from the scene and went to the apartment he shared with his girlfriend and their children, telling her that he was in trouble. He gathered some belongings and fled from the complex. He was a fugitive for four months before finally turning himself in to police in Philadelphia.
Mickey's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Peter Jurs, told the jury that Mickey had run away because he was afraid of being caught with a handgun, which as a previously convicted felon he was prohibited from possessing.
Yurick prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Kaelin.