A man convicted in the murder of an incoming Ph.D. student at Northwestern University was sentenced to 60 years in prison Tuesday.
A jury in October found Diante Speed, 26, guilty of first-degree murder in the September 2018 death of Shane Colombo, then 25. He had been shooting at someone else near Clark and Howard streets in Rogers Park but hit Colombo instead, hours after he’d arrived in Chicago to begin a doctoral program in psychology.
Judge Thomas Byrne on Tuesday sentenced Speed to 35 years in prison for the murder conviction and an additional 25 years for discharging a firearm that led to the death of another person, according to court records.
Tracy Nishimuta, Colombo’s aunt, said she was still processing the sentence. But she thought it could mark a turning point in her grief for her nephew, “an old soul” with whom she shared a deep bond and helped to raise.
“Shane was loved by a lot of people,” she said. “For me, he was the closest thing to a son that I had. He was the light that made your life better.”
Nishimuta, 61, said she hopes to use her artistic skills to support activism against gun violence and specifically wants to paint portraits for other survivors of gun violence victims. Colombo’s mother and fiance have been involved with the organizations Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action in the six years since Colombo’s death.
In the victim impact statement she read Tuesday at Leighton Criminal Court Building, Nishimuta said she’d last seen Colombo shortly before he traveled to Chicago — she took off work early to see him and took the photo for his Northwestern ID.
When they said goodnight, she remembered “the overwhelming urge to run and hug him again, tell him I loved him again.”
Colombo’s mother Tonya, his brother Dane, his fiance and a pair of friends also made statements Tuesday about how his death reshaped their lives. Tonya Colombo remembered her son’s medical battles and scholarly accomplishments, her deep pride and his sense of optimism about the coming years the last time she’d seen him.
“He was just happy and joyous, thrilled for his future,” she said. “All of his hard work had (culminated) to this.”
Colombo’s fiance, Vicente Colores-Chalmers, spoke about the grief he’d endured since Colombo’s death and the “interrupted plans” for the life they were about to start together in Chicago. But he also said Colombo’s death was a setback for “research questions that will never be asked because we’ve lost the unique perspective that would have identified them.”
Colores-Chalmers also addressed Speed’s family and observed that their lives were also “transformed” by the murder and subsequent legal progress. Speed’s mother and grandmother attended the trial, and a phone call between Speed and his mother shortly after Colombo’s death was a touchpoint for both prosecutors and the defense as they made their cases before the jury.
“Shane dedicated his life to understanding how trauma affects communities, and this tragedy exemplifies the ripple effects he studied,” Colores-Chalmers said. “While nothing can justify the senseless taking of his life, I extend my compassion to all those affected by this loss.”
Speed’s attorneys have appealed the verdict after Byrne rejected their motion for a new trial, records show.
