UPDATE (3:10 p.m.) — A neighbor was performing CPR on a Princeville woman shortly after she was shot in her Dunlap area apartment, the county’s top prosecutor said Monday afternoon.
In a news release, Peoria County State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos said the neighbor was also applying pressure to wounds suffered by 22-year-old Alexis Boland who suffered multiple gunshot wounds Friday morning.
Hoos said Walter J. Artis, 26, of Peoria, had allegedly forced his way into the apartment, pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots at Boland, striking her in the head and torso. Artis then fled in his vehicle, Hoos said in the release.
Later Friday morning, police officers located his vehicle in the parking lot of a motel in Morton. Not long after, officers saw him getting out of a taxi and officers moved in. Artis tried to flee the area but he was caught after a short chase, the prosecutor said. Officers allegedly found a handgun in his backpack.
Over the weekend, Artis was charged with home invasion, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm in connection with the shooting and ordered held on $2.5 million bond.
When he was charged, Boland was still alive. However, she was declared brain-dead Sunday afternoon, which was after prosecutors had filed the initial counts.
Hoos said first-degree murder charges could be added next month when a Peoria County grand jury hears the case.
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A 26-year-old Peoria man is being held on $2.5 million following a fatal shooting, the county’s top prosecutor said on Monday.
Walter J. Artis, 26, who lives in the 800 block of South Kickapoo Lane, was charged over the weekend in Peoria County Circuit Court with counts of home invasion, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm in connection with the Friday morning shooting of 22-year-old Alexis Boland of Princeville.
When he was charged, Boland was still alive. However, she was declared brain-dead Sunday afternoon, which was after prosecutors had filed the initial counts.
State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos said on Monday that more charges could be coming later as the investigation proceeds.
Deputies with the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office were called to the Brighton Woods apartments in Dunlap at approximately 9:19 a.m. Friday where they found Boland who had been shot.
Artis had already fled the scene but was arrested about two hours later at a gas station in Morton. A gun was found in his possession, according to the sheriff’s office, which also said Boland and Artis had children together.
