Bloomington Police have announced an arrest in the 2022 shooting death of a Peoria Richwoods High School student.
U.S. Marshals Service took Tomiyale Anderson, 20, of Hampton, Georgia, into custody on Wednesday in Chicago. On Dec. 20, Anderson was indicted on murder and other charges in connection with the death of 17-year-old Kanye Stowers of Peoria.
Anderson faces four counts of murder, attempted murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm.
Stowers was shot at a house party in Bloomington on April 8, 2022. He died the following day.
Stowers’ mother, Tomeka Love, said in the weeks after her son’s death he was one month away from graduating high school and his cap and gown in his bedroom.
Love described her son as a “class clown” who loved to make people laugh.
"He was gonna be somebody," Love said in May 2022. "His records, his music. He was going to go to college. He was ready. ... He could never do that now. I'll never see my grandkids. I'll never see him get married. I'll never seen any of the things that any mother would wish for the child. The person who killed Kanye took it away."
According to McLean County court records, Anderson is being held in custody as he awaits trial.
"The pain of the Stowers family, because of the loss of a loved one, has been felt throughout the police department," Bloomington Police Chief Jamal Simington said in a statement. "The tenacity shown to resolve this case is a testament to the hard work done by the men and women of the Bloomington Police Department. This takes us one step closer to finding justice for Mr. Stowers and his family."