The second day of a Morgan County first degree murder trial ended early this afternoon at the
defendant pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.
19-year-old Larry Taylor of Jacksonville pleaded guilty to second degree murder shortly after 1:30 this afternoon. The second day of the trial had opened at 9 o’clock this morning after hearing two eyewitness accounts of the shooting between Taylor and 18-year-old Trenton Jackson.
Jackson was transported from the scene in the 300 block of West College Avenue to Jacksonville Memorial Hospital, where Jackson later died from gunshot wounds suffered in the incident.
Along with the eyewitness accounts, the 12-person jury got to watch security footage from Downtown Liquors and The Source newspaper office that captured the shooting and its aftermath. Jurors heard accounts from the second eye witness and lawyers from both sides convened in Circuit Judge Chris Reif’s chambers. The jury was dismissed for lunch and asked to return at 1:15 this afternoon.
State’s Attorney Gray Noll said that the evidence and testimony from the first half of the morning re-sparked negotiations between the two sides leading to the plea deal.
Noll says that Taylor’s plea is a part of the pillar of the second-degree murder statute in which someone believes that their actions were justified at the time of the murder. Noll hopes that this gives the Jackson Family and family members related to both the victim and the defendant some closure, but understands if there are mixed feelings to the disposition of the trial.
Jackson was sentenced to the maximum of 20 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on the second degree murder charge and will also serve consecutive sentences of 3 years on the combined weapons charges he pleaded guilty to on Monday. He will also serve 3 years for aggravated battery to a correctional officer which he was charged with in January. In all Jackson will have a total of 26 years to serve in prison.
After the sentencing, a large police presence was found outside the Morgan County Courthouse as family members departed. During the course of the case, both sides had heated exchanges that led to officers intervening after hearings. Noll says he hopes the sentence will act as a deterrent for gun violence in the Jacksonville community. He also thanked the Jacksonville Police Department for their diligence and thorough investigation of the case.