On July 20, 2023, Brandon Wilson was sentenced to 48 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the March 2022 shooting of Walter A. Brown, III at the Belle Isle Apartments located on N. West St. in Galesburg. Wilson was quickly identified as the shooter and apprehended in Tazewell County later that evening. Galesburg Police Department detectives and officers secured Wilson’s Facebook account, collected physical evidence at the scene, and interviewed numerous witnesses. Wilson was ultimately charged with Attempt First Degree Murder, Aggravated Battery with a Firearm, Aggravated Discharge of a Firearm, and Possession of a Weapon by a Felon.
During a three-day trial in January of 2023, First Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley M. Worby presented testimony from the victim, other Belle Isle Apartment residents, multiple detectives and officers from Galesburg P.D., and a forensic scientist from the Illinois State Police Forensic Laboratory. The victim’s identification of Wilson as the shooter was corroborated by Wilson’s Facebook records and Wilson’s fingerprint found on a plate of pizza at the scene of the shooting. The jury returned a guilty verdict on all four charges, and found that Wilson personally discharged a firearm during commission of the offense—a 20-year sentencing enhancement.
Wilson’s sentencing hearing took place on July 20, 2023. Accounting for Wilson’s lengthy criminal history and lack of remorse, Judge Andrew Doyle sentenced Wilson to 28 years for attempt murder plus the 20-year firearm enhancement. Wilson will serve 85% of the sentence with credit for 504 days already served.
***Courtesy of the Knox County State’s Attorney***
