Mom tells son’s killer: ‘You killed me too’
MURDER TRIAL
CALGARY • The mother of a Calgary Stampeders football player told a sentencing hearing Thursday that she’s angry her son survived the crime-filled streets of Detroit only to be gunned down in Canada.
Renee Hill said her son, Mylan Hicks, was a good and righteous man who followed his football dreams north of the border after he was cut by the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League.
Hicks, a 23-year-old player on the practice roster of the Canadian Football League Stampeders, was shot outside Calgary’s Marquee Beer Market in 2016.
Nelson Lugela was convicted earlier this year of second-degree murder.
“When you killed him, you killed me too,” Hill told Lugela as he sat in the prisoner’s box. “Shame.”
At times wiping away tears, the woman told court that her son, “with an almost jungle-like mentality, safely walked through the fire of Detroit,” yet didn’t last one year living in Calgary.
She detailed the darkness and depression she has dealt with since his death. Life isn’t getting any easier, she said, and she’s angry.
Lugela faces an automatic life sentence and the court must determine how long he should serve before he can apply for parole.
The Crown has asked for an ineligibility period of between 17 and 19 years. The defence said 14 years is appropriate.
“This was a crime that shocked the city,” said prosecutor Gord Haight.
Lawyer Alain Hepner said his client has cognitive difficulties and lower intelligence. But he is only 21 and there is still hope for him, Hepner said.
Justice Keith Yamauchi is to give his ruling Wednesday.
The trial heard that several Stampeders, including Hicks, had been celebrating a victory over Winnipeg in a game hours earlier. A disagreement over a spilled drink in the bar intensified in the parking lot after closing time.
Witnesses testified that after some pushing and shoving, a person who appeared to be holding a handgun opened fire at Hicks as he was running for cover.
Hicks was hit twice, in the abdomen and chest, and died in hospital.