PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria County jury has found a man guilty of First Degree Murder in the 2021 death of his girlfriend.
The Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office says 39-year-old Joshua McGee was found guilty Wednesday in the death of Ashley Tankersley after a three-day trial. Sentencing set for October 2nd.
Tankersley was found by sheriff’s deputies lying in a roadside ditch with two gunshot wounds near Philander Chase Lane and US 150 in Brimfield in the early morning hours of August 22nd, 2021, following a 911 call.
Current Sheriff Chris Watkins, a Captain at the time of the shooting, tracked the call to McGee and located him at a rest stop in Sherman, where an hour-long standoff occurred before McGee was taken into custody.
A handgun, two spent shell casings, and Tankersley’s purse were found in McGee’s vehicle, along with his shoes that testing revealed contained Tankersley’s blood.
Expert testimony at the trial revealed that shell casings were fired from the recovered gun, and that McGee’s phone records and GPS data placed him at the scene at the time of the murder.