Peoria Standard

Today in Peoria, Illinois, Darren D. Brown was found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated battery for a shooting that occurred in July 2015. This marks the second time Brown has been convicted for the crime. Initially found guilty by a Peoria County jury in September 2017, Brown was sentenced to 63 years in prison. However, his conviction was overturned by an appellate court in November 2021 due to changes in the law concerning business records' admissibility.

The original trial concluded with a swift verdict after one hour of jury deliberation, attributed to strong evidence against Brown. In this recent trial, the jury reached a decision even more quickly, taking only 45 minutes.

The incident took place around 11 p.m. on July 15, 2015, when police responded to a shooting call on the 1600 block of W. Kettelle St. Upon arrival, officers discovered Charles Shelton with gunshot wounds and Nikko Smith with a fatal head wound. Smith was declared dead at the scene while Shelton survived but later died from unrelated natural causes.

During the three-day trial, Shelton's previous testimony was presented to the jury. He had testified that he was at Smith’s house when Brown entered armed with a silver revolver and demanded money and drugs. According to Shelton's account, after he attempted to resist, Brown shot him before fatally shooting Smith during an altercation.

Shelton had identified Brown as the shooter during police interviews following the incident.

Brown is scheduled for sentencing on December 30.