PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A day after his arrest was announced by the city’s top cop, a 16-year-old boy has been charged in Peoria County Circuit Court in connection with a Nov. 9 shooting near Manual High School.
The boy, Jimichael Brown, who will turn 17 next month, faces a single count of aggravated battery with a firearm in connection with the shooting of a 17-year-old who was walking to school on Nov. 9 in the 2300 block of West Ann Street.
According to a news release from State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos this was an automatic transfer to adult court due to his age and the nature of the crime.
On Wednesday, Peoria police officers raided a small home in the 1100 block of West Nebraska Avenue looking for a different boy, also 16, who had a warrant out for his arrest due to his noncompliance using an ankle monitoring bracelet.
While there, they found Brown who is also linked to a shooting Tuesday morning that struck a door at the high school, said Police Chief Eric Echevarria on Wednesday during an impromptu press conference in front of the house.
Prosecutors filed a petition to hold Brown in custody pending the outcome of his case. A hearing on that petition will be held on Friday afternoon after the teen indicated he wanted to hire his own attorney.
The results of that hearing were not immediately known.
Then, on Tuesday morning, at approximately 11:03 a.m. there was a 12-round ShotSpotter alert near Proctor and Griswold Streets and a 10-round ShotSpotter alert near Ann and Griswold Streets.
Manual High School was put on a soft lockdown and no one inside the building was injured. The initial investigation shows that a 2003 Toyota Echo and a steel door to the school had been struck during the shooting, according to a report filed Wednesday at the Peoria Police Department.
If Brown is convicted of the aggravated battery charge, he faces at least six years and possibly up to 30 years in prison. That’s very different from the juvenile court where he could only be held until his 21st birthday and all court records are sealed to the public.
The legal status of the first teen who had the active warrants wasn’t immediately known.
This story will be updated.
