Peoria Standard

Yesterday, a Peoria County Grand Jury indicted Nasaan J. Booker, 22, on RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges related to his involvement with the “Snakes” street gang. Booker is the eleventh individual charged in an ongoing investigation into violent crime in the area over the last two years. The group includes four other adults and six juveniles who were previously charged under RICO.

Booker also faces a First-Degree Murder indictment connected to the 2023 shooting death of 16-year-old Antonio Walker.

Detectives have linked those charged to at least three murders and 12 shootings. Police recovered 18 firearms during their investigation, including four that had been modified with a device converting them into fully automatic weapons.

Booker remains in custody at the Peoria County Jail.

"This investigation is ongoing. If you have information regarding this incident, please contact the Peoria Police Department at 309-673-4521."

In addition to public safety concerns, local schools continue to face challenges such as teacher absenteeism and student diversity across campuses. For example, Peoria County schools recorded a teacher absenteeism rate of 32.3% for the 2022-23 school year, which was slightly lower than the Illinois average of 35.6%. Further data shows that among Peoria County’s 64 schools: Dunlap High School had the highest enrollment of white students (873), Richwoods High School had the highest number of multiracial students (182), Lincoln School led in Hispanic student enrollment (218), and Peoria High School enrolled the most Black students (798). More details about these statistics are available from the Illinois State Board of Education at https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx.

The average student-to-teacher ratio in Peoria County for that same school year was approximately 15-to-1, based on an enrollment of 27,081 students and a full-time faculty count of 1,844 according to https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx.