CHICAGO — A judge on Tuesday sentenced a man to 60 years in prison for murdering a Northwestern University doctoral student just six hours after the victim moved to Chicago on September 2, 2018.
Jurors convicted Diante Speed, 26, on five counts of murder on October 24. Today, Judge Thomas Byrne handed him 35 years for the murder plus a consecutive 25-year sentencing enhancement for personally discharging the firearm that killed the victim. Speed must serve 100% of his sentence.
Shane Colombo, 25, had just moved into a new condo that he bought with his fiance, Vicente Colores-Chalmers, when he stepped out to run an errand and got caught in the crossfire of a shootout in the 7500 block of North Clark Street. He had moved here earlier that day to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology on a full scholarship.
Bullets struck Colombo in the arm, back, and chest. He died a short time later. Colombo’s mother told ABC News in 2018 that her son “was killed within four hours of being in the city, four hours of stepping off that plane.”
Chicago police released a trove of surveillance photos showing three men they believed were involved in the shootout, hoping someone would be able to identify them. But Speed would not be arrested to face charges for nearly a year.
Speed’s attorneys claimed he was shooting in self-defense at someone who threatened him. Prosecutors said Speed admitted to unintentionally shooting “a white dude” during a conversation with his mother.
Speed is no stranger to the justice system. CPD records show he was arrested six times in 2017: for burglary, possessing a stolen motor vehicle, trespassing, obstruction of traffic, and twice for warrants.
One month after murdering Colombo, but before he had been identified as the gunman, he was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm and battery of a peace officer about two blocks from the shooting scene. He cut a deal with prosecutors in which they dropped all firearms charges, and he received a year of time served for resisting police.
