A judge sentenced a Chicago man to 70 years Friday for gunning down Pierre Patterson, who allegedly killed his brother a year earlier.
Martell Flippins, 36, was convicted in June of murder and a gun enhancement in the March 12, 2023 shooting death of Patterson, 24, of Gary. Prosecutors alleged he tailed him for hours and ambushed him at 3:15 a.m. in a median near 50th and Broadway Avenue.
Court records show he will likely appeal.
Patterson’s mother wrote a letter read by Deputy Prosecutor Keith Anderson. She asked for a maximum sentence.
“I hope one day I would be able to forgive you,” she wrote. “(You should stay) in jail as long as my son is in the grave.”
Defense lawyer Marc Laterzo — working with co-counsel Sonya Scott-Dix — asked for leniency, saying Flippins was getting a “life sentence” either way. Patterson “started” the chain of events, and mocked what happened openly on Facebook. Laterzo didn’t condone “vigilante justice.” Flippins’ case was circumstantial and a weapon was not recovered.
He asked for a 50-year prison cap.
Patterson was a “known suspect” in the March 6, 2022 death of Lavell “Big Slab” Hughes, 26, in front of “many witnesses” at Trendsetters Bar in Calumet Township. Prosecutors said at trial they were close to charging Patterson when he was killed.
Anderson said Flippins had seven prior felonies and was a “very violent individual” who didn’t show any remorse for Patterson’s death. There were no mitigators that should reduce a possible sentence, he argued.
“I feel like he got what he deserved,” Anderson quoted him from a pre-sentence investigation report interview.
He asked for 68 years.
Flippins declined to speak in court.
Judge Salvador Vasquez agreed with Anderson, saying Flippins was “violent” and had an extensive criminal history, mostly involving weapons.