‘The next may not survive’

Anguish filled Debra Zollicoffee’s voice in September 2018 as she recalled how Myles M. Stanford the previous year had put a gun to her head and said he was going to kill her at a Topeka day care center where seven small children were present.

“Don’t let him get away with this, because the next person may not survive,” Zollicoffee told a Shawnee County District Court judge who was preparing to sentence Stanford after he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

That judge followed a plea agreement by sentencing Stanford to a prison term longer than what Kansas sentencing guidelines said should be imposed for aggravated assault committed by someone with his criminal history. He was released in 2020.

But Stanford, now 36, was back in jail Saturday, this time in Chicago, on a charge of first-degree murder.

Zollicoffee expressed sadness and sorrow Monday for the family of the Chicago victim.

“That could have been me,” she told The CapitalJournal. “As I stated in court, he is a monster and should never have been allowed back on the streets.”

What happened in Chicago?

The Cook County, Illinois, State Attorney’s Office on Saturday charged Stanford with one count each of first-degree murder and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, the Illinois State Patrol said in a news release.

The crimes were linked to a fatal shooting that occurred about 2:45 p.m. March 20 on a highway ramp, it said.

Victor Turner, 24, had suffered fatal gunshot wounds in a white Toyota, for which the front and rear passenger’s side windows had been shot out, authorities said.

Turner was pronounced deceased at an area hospital.

The ISP said it conducted an extensive investigation, identified a “suspect vehicle” involved, then arrested Stanford, of Lynwood, Ilinois. A weapon also was recovered, it said. Stanford was being held Monday without bond.

What happened in Topeka?

Stanford was previously charged with crimes linked to an Oct. 9, 2017, incident in which Shawnee County prosecutors said he used a gun to threaten to kill Zollicoffee, who was then 64, at Nanny’s Daycare Center in southeast Topeka.

Zollicoffee said at Stanford’s sentencing that the image of his gun pointed at her continued to haunt her, leaving her unable to sleep at night while triggering anxiety attacks and PTSD.

Two other adults, who were then ages 64 and 80, and seven children, ages 13 months through three years, were present at the time, a prosecutor said. One child was a son Stanford had with his then-girlfriend, a relative of Zollicoffee’s.

Still, a public defender said at Stanford’s sentencing hearing that he showed a lot of potential to improve his life after he was released. His employer, Reser’s Fine Foods, sent the court a letter expressing support for him.

What was Stanford’s Shawnee County sentence?

Shawnee County District Court Judge Nancy Parrish sentenced Stanford in September 2018 to 27 months in prison for aggravated assault, followed by 12 months of supervised release.

The sentence was imposed after Stanford pleaded guilty to aggravated assault as part of an agreement in which charges of marijuana possession and interference with a law enforcement officer were dismissed.

Parrish said Stanford had agreed to serve the 27month term, which was an upward departure from the punishment Kansas Sentencing Guidelines dictated when aggravated assault was committed by someone with his criminal history.

Stanford was released March 2, 2020, from Hutchinson Correctional Facility, according to state prison records.

His sentence then expired Sept. 2, 2020, they said. Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.