The Jacksonville man accused of the shooting death of a former Jacksonville resident over the weekend made his first appearance in court this morning.
37-year-old Joshua E. Wilson of Jacksonville was arraigned in Morgan County Court this morning. Wilson was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Malcolm V. Fitts of Chicago and formerly of Jacksonville.
Fitts died of gunshot wounds at Passavant Area Hospital just before 7:00 am Sunday, after Jacksonville Police were called to the scene of a shooting in the parking lot of the Turner High Rise Apartment Complex in the 800 block of Hoagland Boulevard at approximately 5:30 am.
Wilson appeared before Circuit Judge Christopher Reif who read the charges and informed Wilson of the possible penalties. Wilson is facing 20 to 60 years in prison if he is convicted of first-degree murder, with an additional 25 years to a maximum of life in prison if the state can prove the allegation of Wilson’s use of a firearm.
Bond was set for $1 million for Wilson at the request of Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll, who says Wilson’s criminal history gave cause for the amount requested.
“The Judge set the defendant’s bond in the amount of one million dollars with ten percent to apply. The factors as cited by our office in aggravation for the request of higher bond was that the defendant has a lengthy criminal history consisting of multiple sentences to the Department of Corrections, multiple convictions for felonies, and multiple convictions for misdemeanors as well.”
Public Defender Tom Piper was assigned as defense counsel for Wilson who is due back in court on March 10th at 10:00 am.