Peoria County's criminal case stemming from a January 2023 killing at a Farmington Road Casey’s ended Friday with the court imposing a natural life sentence on 25-year-old Lamentae R. Turner of Decatur.
Jury verdict, sentencing timeline
Turner was convicted by a jury in May 2025 on counts of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. Peoria County Judge Stephen Kouri handed down the life term after multiple defense requests for continuances were granted over the months, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office.
- Victim: 35-year-old Stashaun Wheeler
- Location: Casey’s, Farmington Road, Peoria
- Date of incident: January 2023
- Conviction: May 2025 (jury)
- Sentence imposed: Natural life in the Illinois Department of Corrections
How authorities say the events unfolded
Peoria County deputies responded in January 2023 after reports of a man who had been shot at the gas station. Officers located Wheeler in the Casey’s parking lot; he had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators relied on surveillance and cell-phone data as part of the case presented to the jury. Prosecutors say video showed Turner and Wheeler together earlier that night at a nightclub. Additional surveillance and cell records were used to establish that Turner followed Wheeler from the club to the gas station, where footage captured Turner and another man running up to Wheeler and opening fire before fleeing the scene.
Impact in the courtroom and community
At sentencing, Wheeler’s mother addressed the court, describing the irreversible toll of her son’s loss and urging that the defendant remain in prison for life. Her remarks were noted in the State’s Attorney’s Office record of the hearing.
“If I have to spend the rest of my life visiting my son in a cemetery, then the defendant should spend the rest of his life in prison.”
The sentence closes a chapter in a case that relied heavily on digital evidence and surveillance recordings to connect events from a nightclub to the fatal shooting at a convenience store. The Illinois Department of Corrections will now carry out the court-ordered natural life term.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Shooting at Casey’s, Farmington Road | January 2023 |
| Jury conviction for Turner | May 2025 |
| Sentencing to natural life | July 10, 2026 |
Local residents and businesses along Farmington Road have cited concerns about public safety since the incident, and the case underscores how surveillance cameras and digital data increasingly factor into criminal prosecutions. The State’s Attorney’s Office provided the court details and quoted the victim’s family in its public statement following the sentence.
This article is based on information released by the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office and local reporting of court proceedings.
