Springfield teens charged in connection to fatal August shooting

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Two Springfield teenagers are facing adult murder charges in connection to a shooting that left another teenager dead in August .

John Milhiser, the Sangamon County State’s Attorney, said in a news release that Larryoun Taylor, 17, was indicted at the end of September by a grand jury on five felony counts: four of first-degree murder and one of home invasion. The case was transferred from juvenile court to adult court and on Friday, Taylor was arraigned as an adult. He remains in custody.

Taylor is accused of shooting Dayquan Wiley, also 17, the afternoon of Aug. 4 in the area of South 11th and East Laurel Streets. Police officers responding to a shots-fired call found Wiley in a bedroom of a home at that location and had him taken to HSHS St. John’s Hospital. He later died at the hospital.

“Our prayers are with the family of Dayquan and the message must be clear,” Milhiser said. “If you commit violent acts in our community, we will find you and bring you to justice.”

Milhiser added that a 15-year-old has also been arrested in connection to Wiley’s death. The U.S. Marshals Service found him in Wisconsin last week and he will be extradited back to Sangamon County to face murder and home invasion charges.

Those charges were initially filed in juvenile court, Milhiser said, but he is petitioning to have the case transferred to adult court as well. Transfer to adult court is not guaranteed; the State’s Attorney’s Office explained that cases involving suspects under 16 are reviewed by a judge to determine if it is appropriate to try the suspect in adult court.

Taylor, meanwhile, is due back in court in Nov. 12.

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