PEORIA, Ill. – A murder conviction for a Peoria man in a 2020 shooting death has been thrown out by an appeals court.
The Fourth District Appellate Court ruled that because of an error by the trial judge made in delivering instruction to the jury, a new trial must take place for 21-year-old Mikeal Reed.
Reed was found guilty in October 2022 in the death of Terrence Dunigan Jr. on Woodhill Lane in September of 2020. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The justices ruled that even with sufficient evidence to convict Reed, the trial judge failed to define robbery in his jury instructions. Prosecutors argued that an attempted robbery led up to the murder after a dice game.
Talya Zolicoffer Jr. is serving 24 years in prison after taking a plea deal in January, while a third co-defendant was found not guilty.
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