A Delco teen was convicted of attempted murder, aggravated assault for a shooting the night Fanta Bility was killed

A Delaware County Court judge ruled Tuesday that a teenage gunman was not acting in self defense when he shot at members of a rival gang outside an Academy Park High School football game in August 2021, setting in motion a series of events that led to the police shooting of 8-year-old Fanta Bility.

Angelo “AJ” Ford, 18, was found guilty of two counts each of attempted murder and aggravated assault for firing at Hasein Strand and Khalil Pierre, as well as three counts of recklessly endangering Strand, Pierre and Hafize Sharif, a teenager who was shot by Strand as he attempted to return fire at Ford. Ford was also convicted of four gun charges.

Judge G. Michael Green, who presided over Ford’s weeklong trial in June, will sentence him on those charges Sept. 20.

Ford showed little reaction as the verdict was read. His attorney, Mary Elizabeth Welch, did not comment after the brief hearing in Media.

First Assistant District Attorney Tanner Rouse said he appreciated Green’s review of the evidence and respected his verdict. The prosecutor said he hoped the decision could serve as closure to what he has described as a tragic series of events.

“Any time a young man is convicted of something as serious and as grave as this is, it’s not cause for celebration,” Rouse said. “This is a sad day. It is the culmination of many sad days we have had since Aug. 27, 2021.”

On that night, Ford got into an argument with Strand, 21, and a group of his friends after the football game between Academy Park and Pennsbury. Neither prosecution nor defense could agree on who initiated the dispute, but it escalated to the point where, witnesses testified, Ford displayed the butt of an illegal gun tucked into his waistband.

The men were affiliated with warring street gangs: Ford with a gang in Darby Township and Strand with a group from Collingdale that called themselves “Money Making Legends.”

After seeing Ford’s weapon, Strand ran to his car and retrieved a gun of his own. Ford fired first, aiming at the group from down the block. Strand returned fire, striking Sharif in the leg. Neither gunman was injured in the cross fire.

Nearby, three now-former Sharon Hill Police officers monitoring the crowd heard the gunfire and opened fire on a car they believed was involved in the shooting. One of their bullets struck Fanta and her older sister. Fanta was hit in the back and died in her mother’s arms.

Strand later admitted his role in the shooting and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2022. He is serving a three- to six-year sentence in state prison.

Ford, however, escaped from a youth detention center in Allegheny County and went on the run for more than a year before being arrested in Philadelphia by U.S. Marshals.

Since his capture, prosecutors said, Ford has gotten into trouble at Delaware County’s George W. Hill Correctional Facility. He has two criminal cases pending, one for allegedly stashing two homemade knives in his bunk and another for allegedly starting a fire in his cell and threatening a guard who came to restrain him.