A Peoria man will serve 45 years in prison for a 2023 shooting inside Big Al’s strip club in downtown Peoria that left a victim legally blind.
Tywahnn Tillman, 37, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder in October. At his sentencing Thursday, Chief Judge Katherine Gorman reduced by three years the maximum sentence from the defense’s plea agreement with prosecutors.
The victim worked as a bouncer at the club. During Thursday’s hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Dave Gast told the court the victim suffered permanent injuries and now lives at a neuro skills facility four hours away from his family.
Peoria Police officers responded to the club around 3 a.m. on Oct. 23, 2023, and found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound. Investigators learned Tillman got into a fight with the bouncer and was kicked out of the club.
He went to a car in the parking lot and retrieved a gun, then returned inside and pushed past several people before walking up to the victim and shooting him in the head from behind.
The shooting was the first in a series of violent incidents that resulted in the club remaining closed since August of last year.
