Cook County Judge Nicholas Ford handed down the sentence to 24-year-old Micheail Ward on Monday, five months after Ward was convicted of murder and aggravated battery in the killing of Hadiya Pendleton.
Prosecutors said Micheail Ward, 24, was the one who pulled the trigger in August 2013 when bullets were fired at a group of young people gathered at a South Side park.
Fifteen-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was with friends at a park in January 2013 when she was shot in what prosecutors say was a botched attempt at gang retaliation.
Two men are standing trial in the 2013 shooting death of a 15-year-old Chicago student just days after she performed with her high school band at then-President Barack Obama's inaugural festivities.