NORFOLK, Va. — Four North Carolina men were convicted for their role in a 2016 murder-for-hire that resulted in the death of a Norfolk woman, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
59-year-old Lillian Bond was shot to death on April 19, 2016. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the murder was connected to a long-running drug trafficking operation led by Jaquate Simpson and Landis Jackson, both 38. Their operation was responsible for distributing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into central North Carolina and the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.
Prosecutors said on April 13, 2016, a Norfolk-based drug dealer failed to pay over $81,000 for a multi-kilogram cocaine delivery.
Simpson and Jackson’s organization retaliated by hiring 35-year-old Kalub Shipman to kill the next person to exit a house associated with where the Norfolk dealer had been known to frequent.
Shipman then recruited 32-year-old Nelson Evans to help with the murder-for-hire and the two traveled to Virginia a few days later. Around 11:30 on the morning of April 19, Shipman and Evans went to the Ingleside neighborhood of Norfolk and shot Lillian Bond as she was taking out the trash on Trice Terrace.
Bond was considered a neighborhood caretaker and was known for her willingness to help people. She worked at the Children’s Hospital for King’s Daughters for about 20 years and was described as a pillar in her community.
"She was there for everybody," Bond's niece, Zelda Brown, told 13News Now back in 2016. "Who could do this on a day like this, and not even watch her fall? Do it and leave, with no remorse?"
On Monday, a jury found all four men guilty of charges connected to Bond's murder.
Jaquate Simpson was convicted of: continuing criminal enterprise; murder while engaged in continuing criminal enterprise; narcotics conspiracy; murder while engaged in a drug-trafficking offense; distribution of cocaine; use of a firearm resulting in death; conspiracy to commit murder for hire; murder for hire.
Landis Jackson was convicted of: continuing criminal enterprise; murder while engaged in continuing criminal enterprise; narcotics conspiracy; murder while engaged in a drug-trafficking offense; distribution of cocaine; use of a firearm resulting in death; conspiracy to commit murder for hire; murder for hire.
Kalub Shipman was convicted of: murder while engaged in a drug-trafficking offense; use of a firearm resulting in death; conspiracy to commit murder for hire; murder for hire; felon in possession of a firearm.
Nelson Evans was convicted of: use of a firearm resulting in death; conspiracy to commit murder for hire; murder for hire.
All four men face mandatory life sentences when they are sentenced.
"This day has been a long time coming, especially for the family of Lillian Bond," said Jessica D. Aber, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in a news release. "This drug enterprise took the life of an innocent person, a woman well known to be kind and compassionate to her friends and family, and I hope that today’s verdict brings some measure of justice to her family."
