'Worst kind of evil': Philly man gets life in prison for killing Lower Southampton mom
A Philadelphia man will spend the rest of his life in prison for his role in the murder of a Lower Southampton woman nearly two years ago.
On Thursday, Ricky Vance was sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of Ebony Pack, who was fatally shot while in her car in Lansdale at the end of November 2020.
Vance, clad in a red prison jumpsuit, sat quietly next to his attorney in Montgomery County Court while Rhonda Pack, Ebony Pack's mother, spoke through tears about the death of her daughter, who leaves behinds two daughters, including a 10 year old.
"You destroyed her daughter's life," she said. "You destroyed my life."
Montgomery County authorities said Chong Dan, 51, concocted a plan to have Vance, 54, and Terrence Marche, 48, kill Pack, who had been dating his ex-girlfriend, Jasmine Stokes, at the time. Prosecutors said Stokes owed Dan money, and he wanted to get back at her. Ebony Pack was fatally shot while stopped at the intersection of East Hancock Street and Church Road in Lansdale about 10 p.m. Nov. 28, 2020.
Rhonda Pack called her daughter, who was a nurse, a "beautiful person" who was "blessed." She was sad that Ebony Pack will never see her daughter's accomplishments and future life events.
"You are far from blessed," she told Vance.
Calling him "the worst kind of evil," she said she had no empathy for him.
"May God have mercy on your soul," she said.
Pack was a nurse who cared for patients who suffered from COVID-19 at the time of her death, according to the Philadelphia Obituary Project. Pack was known for her "happy and bright" energy, according to her obituary.
Judge William Carpenter called the incident a "senseless act of violence" when imposing a life sentence on Vance, who declined to make a statement during the hearing.
Vance and Dan were found guilty of first-degree murder at trial last month. A third person charged in her death, Terrence Marche, has not been arrested.
Prosecutors pointed to cellphone records and turnpike photo records that they said proved that Marche and Vance had followed Pack and killed her that night. Officials said a gunman "unloaded" at least 10 shots into Pack's vehicle that night.
Attorneys for Vance and Pack told jurors there was no evidence that that the men were involved in her death.
John McMahon Jr., Vance's attorney, said during Dan and Vance's trial that Vance never left Philadelphia that night. Vance, who was friends with Marche, lent Marche his car that night, and Marche seemed to be acting "not quite right" when he came back to return it, he said.
Vance, he said, did not have contact with Dan before, during, or after the killing.
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Vance denied any involvement in the incident, however, police found gun residue inside his vehicle, which was consistent with a passenger shooting from his vehicle after pulling up alongside Pack's, authorities said.
Dan is expected to be sentenced Monday morning. After Vance was charged early last year, Dan and Marche went to Honduras, according to authorities. Dan returned, however investigators have not been able to locate Marche.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Man gets life in prison for killing Bucks County nurse Ebony Pack in Lansdale
