PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A South Peoria man now faces up to 30 years in prison after being found guilty Wednesday in connection with a March 2021 shooting at a liquor store near the city’s southern edge.
Jurors found David E. Dillard Jr., 27, guilty of aggravated battery, aggravated discharge of a firearm and possession of a weapon by a felon after a two-day trial in Peoria County Circuit Court.
His bond was revoked and Dillard, who acted as his own attorney, was ordered held at the Peoria County Jail without bond pending his May 31 sentencing hearing.
At approximately 10:42 p.m., March 7, 2021, deputies with the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office responded to the parking lot of Laramie Liquors for a man who had been shot while sitting in a car.
When they arrived at the store, located at 1841 S. Laramie St., deputies found a man who had been shot in the head and also in the torso, according to court records. The shooter had left the area by the time officers arrived.
The store’s surveillance cameras captured images of a man wearing a facemask with a smiley face that looked similar to one that Dillard himself was seen wearing about 30 minutes after the shooting, according to court records.
