Man guilty of Sierra College football player’s murder. ‘Gone but never forgotten,’ coach says

A Sacramento County jury found a 23-year-old man guilty Wednesday in the shooting death of a Sierra College football player at a Fair Oaks party in 2019.

Sean Hardy was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Chancelor “Chance” Fields-Colbert and being a felon in possession of a firearm after sheriff’s deputies said Hardy fired into a crowd July 2019, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.

“Chance was an incredible young man and I cannot remember a time in which he did not have a smile on his face,” Sierra College head football coach Ben Noonan previously told The Sacramento Bee. “He brought a positive energy every day to the program and it was infectious to the entire time culture.”

Fields-Colbert, who according to The Bee’s previous reporting was a rising sophomore at the Rocklin community college, had attended high school in Alaska.

Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies were called around 1:30 a.m. after multiple people reported gunfire in the 11000 block of Fair Oaks Boulevard at a party held in an Airbnb rental home, according to The Bee’s previous reporting.

The party was for the victim’s teammate, Davis Stone, who secured a scholarship to play football at Abilene Christian University in Texas, and was leaving Rocklin. It swelled in size after a person posted about the party on social media and many people flooded the area, prosecutors said.

Hardy fired a gun two times in the air when a large fight broke out inside the home, prosecutors said. There were about 60 people inside, and chaos broke out as partygoers rushed toward the exit, according to The Bee’s reporting at the time.

Fields-Colbert hurried to his car and realized his friend was missing. He trekked back toward the home as another fight erupted on the street, prosecutors said.

The victim attempted to disperse the melee when Hardy attempted to punch him and missed. That’s when he pulled out a gun again and shot a total of four times, hitting Fields-Colbert once in the back while he tried to run away, prosecutors said.

Fields-Colbert died at a hospital.

Noonan reflected that it’s been a long four years with justice pending — but that it was finally served with Hardy’s conviction, resulting in closure for his family and friends.

“His impact on everyone that he touched in his lifetime will forever be remembered & cherished,” Noonan wrote this week on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Gone but never forgotten.”

Hardy faces a maximum sentence of 43 years to life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced June 7.