16-year-old Peoria boy held in custody in connection with 2024 homicide

Yahoo

19-05-2025

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A 16-year-old boy was ordered held pending the outcome of allegations that he shot and killed a man late last year.
Last Friday, Robert E. Mister, 16, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the Dec. 22, 2024, shooting death of James Miller. While he appeared in court on the charge Friday, his detention hearing, by agreement, was pushed back until Monday.
That's not uncommon under the SAFE-T Act, which allows people the chance to remain out of custody pending trial without having to post cash bail.
Mister, who appeared in court Monday wearing an orange jumpsuit of an inmate at the county's detention center, showed no emotion as Peoria County Judge Mark Gilles announced Mister was to remain held pending the outcome of his trial.
The head, Assistant State's Attorney Terry Muench, acknowledged that Miller had threatened him with a gun first, and that he shot Miller in self-defense.
Meunch said multiple reports allege that Mister stood over Miller and shot him in the head, countering that argument.
He will next appear in court on June 12 for his arraignment. If convicted, he faces decades behind bars.
On Dec. 22, officers went to the 300 block of East Arcadia Avenue at about 7:50 p.m. after someone reported a shooting. There, they found Miller, 39, with a gunshot wound and brought him to a local hospital, where he was declared dead shortly after he arrived.
He was found near the home's front door. He had been shot three times in the back and once in the head, Assistant State's Attorney Terry Muench told Judge Mark Gilles.
Muench said in open court that Mister had been at the house on Arcadia when a dispute broke out about missing ear pods. He tried to leave the house and on his way downstairs, found a gun.
Miller refused to let the boy leave, Muench said, as it was believed that Mister had taken some cell phones. Mister, when talking to police, denied taking cell phones and denied at first even being there.
But he was wearing an ankle bracelet of a person who was on probation, likely a juvenile case. That was noticed by a witness, who told police that after she heard gunshots, she saw Mister allegedly standing over Miller and shooting down at him. She noticed he had a bracelet.
Days later, Muench said, after police arrested him and recovered his cell phone, they allegedly found a text message where he told someone that he had 'done something bad bad a couple of days ago.'
This was the city's 22nd homicide of 2024.
Within days, State's Attorney Jodi Hoos indicated her office would seek to have his case transferred to the adult felony division. The juvenile case has been on hold while a judge considered the transfer.
The fact that Mister was charged as an adult means his case was transferred.
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