PEORIA, Ill. – For the first time, the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office has put out an annual report.
The report covers cases and initiatives the office was involved in during 2023.
The office reports its felony division was involved in 26 jury trials last year. It filed 1,585 charges, with 316 of those gun and weapons charges. It also reports the average murder sentence was 73 years.
The office reported on some of its more notable trials in the past year.
One was the conviction of Brandon Walker and Stephanie Jones, the parents of 8-year-old Navin Jones, who was found starving to death with injuries throughout his body. Another was the conviction of Tahir Goodman in the death of his girlfriend. It also lists its first ever “bodyless” prosecution of murder of Allen Schimmelpfenning, despite a body never being found.
A new initiative in 2023 from the state’s attorney’s office and State Attorney Jodi Hoos is the Greater Peoria Auto Crimes Task Force. The goal is to reduce crimes related to vehicular hijacking, auto theft, insurance fraud, and more. The task force is an initiative between the state’s attorney’s office, Peoria Police, Peoria County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois Secretary of State Police, and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
The task force launched in July of last year, with 172 stolen motor vehicles recovered. The state’s attorney’s office says the value of those vehicles total $2.8 million.
The office says 784 charges were filed against minors who committed criminal offenses last year. Of those, the office says 118 were auto theft related, including burglary, theft, and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. The office says cases involving six juveniles were transferred to adult court, with three of those for murder charges.
The implementation of the state’s SAFE-T Act went into effect in mid-September last year, with the state’s attorney’s office saying 123 petitions to detain were filed.
The state’s attorney’s office says it has saved county taxpayers nearly $2 million since 2020, with more than $2.1 million in grant funding brought in.
Last year, the state’s attorney’s office also implemented the “Kiwi Goes to School” program, which introduces students in Peoria County to the office’s facility dog, Kiwi. The goal of the program is to give kids a “friendly face” when they step inside a courtroom.
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