Peoria, Ill. – A Peoria man will spend the next 45 years in prison for shooting a bouncer at Big Al’s nightclub in downtown Peoria in 2023.
Tywahnn K. Tillman, 37, was sentenced Wednesday to 45 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He pleaded guilty in October to attempted first-degree murder.
On October 23, 2023, around 3 a.m., officers responded to shots fired inside Big Al’s and found the victim, a bouncer for the club, suffering from a gunshot wound.
Investigators learned that Tillman had gotten into a fight with the bouncer and had been kicked out of the club. Tillman then went to a car outside, retrieved a gun, returned inside, pushed past several people, walked right up to the bouncer, who had his back turned, and shot him in the head.
At sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney Dave Gast told the court that the victim’s life will never be the same.
In addition to being blind, the victim now lives at a neuro skills facility hours away from his family.
“Tillman stole the victim’s independence and future,” Gast said, urging the court to sentence him to the maximum of 48 years in prison.
In delivering the sentence, Chief Judge Katherine Gorman noted that some things cannot be undone.
“This is one of them, and it must be deterred,” Gorman said.
In exchange for his guilty plea in October 2025, the state agreed to a maximum possible prison sentence of 48 years. He faced decades more without the deal.
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