PEORIA, Ill. – A man has been found guilty for a second time of First Degree Murder for a 2015 shooting that left one man dead and another injured.
The Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office says 32-year-old Darren Brown was also found guilty Wednesday of Aggravated Battery.
The shooting occurred the evening of July 15th, 2015 at a home on West Kettelle St. Police found 25-year-old Nikko Smith with a gunshot wound to the head, and Charles Shelton with a gunshot wound to the stomach.
Shelton has since passed away due to unrelated natural causes.
Prosecutors say Brown entered Smith’s home and ordered both to get on the ground and held a gun to Smith’s head, stating he was taking money and drugs in the home. Shelton was shot after he jumped up from the floor.
While Brown attempted to leave, prosecutors say Smith fought back, and that’s when Brown shot him in the head, killing him instantly.
Brown was originally found guilty by a Peoria County jury in September of 2017 and sentenced to 63 years in prison. But an appellate court overturned the conviction in November of 2021 because of a change in the law relating to the admissibility of business records.
Brown is set to be sentenced again on December 30th.
Comments