NORFOLK, Va. — A man who shot five women in Norfolk’s Young Terrace neighborhood in 2021, leaving three dead, was given four life sentences plus 43 years in prison Friday morning.
The sentencing for Ziontay Palmer, 22, comes after his November conviction on three counts of aggravated murder, one count of aggravated wounding, one count of malicious wounding, and five counts of the use of a firearm in the commission of the felony.
A Norfolk judge called the case the worst he's ever seen. Palmer is ineligible for parole or credit for time served and good behavior.
The shooting happened in broad daylight in the early evening of November 3, 2021. Prosecutors said Palmer shot his then-pregnant girlfriend Angel LeGrande and LeGrande's mother, Nicole Lovewine, outside near the intersection of Nicholson Street and Whitaker Lane.
Lovewine's partner, Detra Brown, along with neighbor Sara Elizabeth Costine, ran from their apartments to help the two women. Palmer then ran up and shot Brown and Costine as well. Prosecutors said Brown was shot six times.
Another neighbor, Shazelle Dixon, ran out of her apartment to check on her children after hearing the gunshots and was also shot multiple times by Palmer, in the jaw, the arm, and the back.
Lovewine, Brown, and Costine all died at the scene. LeGrande and Dixon both survived. Dixon, however, needed multiple surgeries including jaw reconstruction, and she continues to experience nerve damage from a bullet lodged in her spine. LeGrande's unborn child also survived.
At the time, former Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone called Palmer a "coward" and said he'd never seen a crime scene like that in his 30 years in law enforcement.
Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi calls the sentencing on Friday the only option.
"This is the only sanction. Killing three, wounding two. All in broad daylight. All in front of children. It is the only sanction," he said. "This is the kind of the worst of the worst case where it is appropriate."
In the courtroom, 27-year-old Sierra Ellerson took the stand to talk about her mother, Sarah Costine. She told Palmer he took her best friend away, saying “A piece of me is literally gone.” She is now raising her younger brother by herself.
Lovewine’s sister, Tina Gregory, told the judge Palmer put a big dent in their family. She went on the tell the judge "have no mercy on his soul.”
Palmer's family wrote letters to the judge describing Palmer as a star athlete and honor student, saying he'd never committed a crime before the shooting. His attorney, Eric Korslund, asked for a sentence that would allow Palmer to walk free as an old man. He argued Palmer was 19 years old when he shot these women and was "triggered" by LeGrande telling him she would raise their baby without him.
Ultimately, the judge, while describing the scene as a "warzone," said, “no one in a free society is going to be hurt by you again.”
Fatehi said what the judge decided was the maximum sentence Palmer could serve for his crimes.
"We have no alternative in a case this grave, this serious, and this violent," he said.
Ellerson said they're relieved.
"We feel great. It’s an understatement about how well feel. Justice was served. Definitely."
Following Palmer's conviction, Fatehi told 13News Now that he faces up to three life sentences in prison on these charges in addition to more years on the other charges.
However, Fatehi said the judge could suspend a certain number of years from those life sentences.