A Peoria man was convicted Tuesday of killing his girlfriend and a neighbor in an August 2024 shooting in Peoria's El Vista neighborhood.
A Peoria County jury took less than 30 minutes to return the first-degree murder verdicts against Stevie Linwood, 44, according to a news release from the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Linwood was convicted of fatally shooting Zaneta Winters, 35, and Jakaiden Rynearson, 20. Officers responding to the incident in the 3400 block of North El Vista found Winters, Linwood’s girlfriend, face down in the doorway of the home, and Rynearson lying in the front yard.
Winters reportedly was running from the residence and calling for help when Linwood shot her in the back of the head, according to the charges. She was pronounced dead a few days later.
Rynearson heard the gunshot and ran across the street in an attempt to help Winters, said police. Linwood shot her three times as she approached, and she died months later. During the two-day trial, a neighbor testified to seeing Rynearson on the ground while Linwood stood over her and fired his gun.
Linwood fled the scene, but was apprehended in the back yard of a home on Forrest Hill Avenue. The gun used in the shooting was recovered from a bush along Gale Avenue. A firearms expert testified that four shell casings collected at the scene came from the recovered gun.
Linwood’s sentencing is scheduled for March 27.
