Previously Reported:
(PEORIA, IL) Friday, June 20, 2025, at approximately 2:41 a.m. Peoria Police responded to the 300 block of S. MacArthur Highway on a report of a vehicle crash. While en route to the scene, officers were informed that a shooting had occurred at the above location.
When officers arrived, they observed a vehicle that had crashed into a tree at MLK Park. When police approached the vehicle, they observed an adult male (20 years old) inside the vehicle with a gunshot wound to the head.
The victim was pronounced deceased on the scene. The identity of the victim and cause of death will be released by the Peoria County Coroner.
Members of the Peoria Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division (CID), Crime Scene Unit (CSU), and Patrol Unit responded to the scene and initiated an investigation.
While on the scene, officers were alerted that a second victim, a 19-year-old male, was transported to a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the hand. His injuries were considered non-life-threatening.
Currently, there is no suspect information. This incident is under investigation.
UPDATE 6/21/25
Initial information gathered at the scene indicated the victim’s vehicle had sustained multiple strikes attributed to gunfire. The collision that followed the shooting was significant, and the vehicle sustained severe damage as a result.
During the course of the investigation, detectives developed information that led to the identification of a suspect, 20-year-old Christopher P. Adams.
On June 20, 2025, at approximately 9:00 a.m., Adams was taken into custody without incident in the 200 block of SW Adams Street by members of the Special Investigations Unit.
Adams was transported to the Peoria Police Department Criminal Investigations Division for interview purposes, where he was subsequently arrested by detectives for First Degree Murder. He was then transported to the Peoria County Jail.
This investigation is ongoing.
All parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
If you have information, you believe is important to this investigation, please contact
Detective Scott Hulse at (309) 494-8391 or report anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (309) 673-4521 or Tip411.
UPDATE 6/24/25
On Monday, June 23, 2025, members of the Peoria Police Department’s Special Investigations Division (SID) identified a second suspect in this ongoing homicide investigation, 18-year-old Kemareon D. Bell.
At approximately 5:47 p.m., Bell was located by police in the 1000 block of W. Wilcox, where he was taken into custody without incident.
Bell was arrested for First Degree Murder and transported to the Peoria County Jail.
This investigation remains ongoing.
All parties are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
If you have information, you believe is important to this investigation, please contact Detective Scott Hulse at (309) 494-8391 or report anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (309) 673-4521 or Tip411.