NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Four Greensboro men were sentenced to life in prison on Jan. 12 for their role in a murder-for-hire that left a drug dealer’s family member dead in Norfolk, officials said.

Jaquate Simpson, Landis Jackson, Kalub Shipman and Nelson Evans were found guilty back in March 2023 in connection to the death of 59-year-old Lillian Bond. Simpson and Jackson were leaders in a criminal enterprise that distributed cocaine into North Carolina and Hampton Roads.

According to a release, a Norfolk drug dealer didn’t pay $81,000 for a multi-kilogram delivery of cocaine, so Simpson and Jackson retaliated. They hired Shipman, who recruited Evans, to kill the first person to leave the house where the Norfolk drug dealer was known to be.

As a result, Bond was shot while taking out the trash on Trice Terrace. According to previous coverage, it was a family member that owed the money to Simpson and Jackson. Family members responded to the sentencing.

“There’s nothing the judge could have sentenced them to that we haven’t been sentenced to, we are doing life without the matriarch of our family,” said Bond’s niece, Precious Hill.

Hill said Bond was a woman who was loved by many and welcomed all. She was a veteran employee of Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters for 20 years. Family members said she loved hosting family gatherings.

“She was the one that held us all together,” said Hill. “She accepted people for where they were.”

They referred to her as Aunt Resa and said their family dynamic has changed a lot without her.

“We just pray that this is a start to our healing journey,” said Hill. “The last seven and a half years have been horrible.”

Bond became the chosen victim of this retaliation the moment she left her home.

“We literally have a recording where the leader said the next person out of that residence needs to get killed, needs to get shot,” said Norfolk FBI Special Agent in Charge, Brian Dugan.

Dugan said a few years after the murder, a Norfolk Police Investigator who was part of their safe streets task force brought the case to them, but it took several agencies working together to bring them to justice.

“They’re up against a larger team than they think,” said Dugan. “It’s not just Norfolk on their own doing this, North Carolina, the FBI, we’re going to get on board and help determine who did this, so that they’re not going to get away with it.”

Dugan said in addition to Norfolk Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, they also worked with partners in North Carolina, including the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and two different sheriff’s offices.

“I’m really proud of the team that came together to do this,” Dugan said. “And I appreciate the teamwork here with Michelle and Jessica coming here to show the partnership has some success, and that there’s a return on investment for police partners when they … commit to working with us and I want to thank them for that.”

The sentencing sends the messages that violent crime is one of the priorities for law enforcements and the Department of Justice, said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica Aber.

“We will spare no expense and expend all resources and take the time necessary to build a case to ensure that we keep the community as safe as possible,” Aber said.

Aber said partnerships like this between local and federal partners have been happening more and more because criminals know no boundaries.

“They should know that we as prosecutors are not restricted by boundaries like that either,” said Aber.

Aber added technology aided in the prosecution of this case.

“Technology makes it so much harder to commit a crime,” Aber said. “Today, there are cameras everywhere, and that’s part of how we identified the perpetrators in this case. Cell phone tower data helps us account for where people are located and of course, traditional wiretaps.”

Assistant Chief of Investigations for Norfolk Police Michelle Naughton said the loss is not only for Bond’s family, but to the entire community of Norfolk.

“It’s because of the successful partnerships that we have with our law enforcement partners here at FBI Norfolk that we’re able to stand here today, and to share with the family that will receive justice,” said Naughton.

The FBI said there are no more arrests to come in this investigation. Bond’s family said they can now move forward as Aunt Resa would want them to do.