Dion Ford’s killing: Gunman sentenced for fatal shooting

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of former St. Paul athlete Dion Ford during an attempted robbery last year.

Xavion Tyrece Bell, 22, of St. Paul, was sentenced on Monday to 360 months (30 years), with credit for 417 days, for his role as the gunman in the murder of Ford, who was a star basketball and football player at St. Paul Central High School prior to graduating in 2019. 

Bell pleaded guilty in April to one count of second-degree murder with intent but not premeditated in exchange for the second-degree murder charge while committing a felony being dropped. 

His co-conspirator, 20-year-old D’Angelo Semaj Dampier, was sentenced to 25.5 years in February after a jury convicted him of two counts of second-degree murder, aiding an offender by being an accomplice after the fact, and two counts of possession of a firearm or ammunition by an ineligible person.

Bell was also sentenced in Ramsey County court on Monday for two robbery cases. He was sentenced to 111 months (9.25 years) for three counts of first-degree aggravated robbery in the armed robbery of a man who was walking into his apartment building in July 2020. 

He was sentenced to 88 months (7.3 years) for two counts of first-degree aggravated robbery in the armed robbery of a woman who arranged to purchase an iPhone from someone through Facebook marketplace while she was with her 14-year-old son in July 2020. 

Bell will serve his sentence at the St. Cloud correctional facility.