A Peoria County jury has convicted Deziaah Z. Hunter, 20, in the shooting death of Kenadee Wallenfang in an incident which occurred along Peoria’s riverfront last summer.
Hunter was found guilty of first-degree murder, a charge which was upgraded from an initial charge of aggravated battery with a firearm.
The initial incident occurred on June 3, 2025, when officers responded around 3:20 p.m. to reports of a woman shot in a parking lot along the riverfront.
Officers found Wallenfang lying on the ground near a vehicle with a gunshot wound to the back of her head. She died days later in the hospital.
Hunter testified in a three-day trial saying the shooting was an accident and she did not recall pulling the trigger. She said Wallenfang and another friend picked her up after an argument with her girlfriend and drove to the riverfront.
As she was upset and crying about the fight, Hunter said she took the gun from her pocket and held it to next to her head and pointed it upwards. Then she rested her head on the back of Wallenfang’s headrest and the gun was discharged, she said.
Hunter said she had no further recollection of the day after.
Prosecutors presented evidence contradicting Hunter’s account, including a crime scene detective determining the bullet trajectory to have been from a person holding the gun directly into the car headrest, as well as a firearm identification expert testifying the gun was made with a trigger safety design to prevent such an accidental discharge.
Sentencing for the case is set for June 24.