CHICAGO — A Chicago man was sentenced life in prison for the "cold-blooded" murder of a bank teller during a 2007 robbery-gone-wrong on the city's South Side, officials said Wednesday.
Jurors in July 2011 convicted David Vance, 34, of the fatal shooting of Tramaine Gibson, 23, while robbing a Illinois Service Federal Savings and Loan on the South Side in May 2007, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Vance jumped the teller counter and "killed Gibson in his cold-blooded pursuit of the money in the bank vault," prosecutors argued. Vance demanded Gibson open the bank vault, though Gibson was not able to. Vance shot Gibson, who was unarmed, at point-blank range and dragged his bloody body toward the bank vault, the statement said.
Vance also shot a security guard and customer during the robbery, which he carried out with two accomplices. He stole $6,875 from the bank, and was also convicted of robbing a Cole Taylor Bank on the South Side of $11,438 in May 2007.
"This heinous crime is an unfortunate example of how an armed robbery can go horribly wrong," prosecutors said. " A life sentence will send a message to individuals considering such crimes."
Judge Joan Gottschall sentenced Vance to the mandatory life sentence and a mandatory consecutive sentence of 32 years for the use of a gun during the robbery. There is no parole in the federal prison system, officials said.
Gottschall also ordered Vance to pay restitution of $1.2 million for the stolen bank funds, the security guard's disability and the estate of Gibson. Gottschall acknowledged the money was not likely to be recovered, however, a statement said.
The two accomplices, Alton Marshall, 34, and Henry Bluford, 35, both of Chicago, pleaded guilty to the bank robberies and testified against Vance. They are expected to each receive 20 years in prison when they are sentenced April 17 and 24, a statement said.
The Illinois Service Federal Savings and Loan branch is at 8700 S. King Drive in Chatham, the Tribune reported.
