A Jacksonville teen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the middle of his trial in Morgan County.
Larry W. Taylor’s negotiated plea was announced after the jury returned from lunch March 11.
Taylor was standing trial for the 2024 shooting of Trenton D. Jackson, 18, in the 300 block of West College Avenue, just off the city’s downtown area.
Taylor, who turns 20 years old later this month, was arrested by U.S Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force out of Springfield and the Springfield Police Department Street Crimes Unit a little less than three weeks after the shooting.
Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll called four witnesses during the trial, the last being Demorion Harris.
Taylor was sentenced by Judge Chris Reif to 20 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Before the start of the trial, Taylor pleaded guilty to aggravated use of a weapon.
Taylor also pleaded guilty, in a separate case, to aggravated battery of a correctional officer. That incident happened in January.
Both offenses carry three-year sentences which Taylor will have to serve consecutively.
Taylor was represented by private attorneys Daniel Fultz and Natalia Galica of Springfield and public defender Devin Vaughn.
It was the first murder trial in Jacksonville since 2022 when Dustin A. Finlaw of Meredosia was convicted in the 2018 stabbing death of Robert L. Utter of Rushville.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Jacksonville teen pleads guilty to second-degree murder in 2024 case
Reporting by Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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