PEORIA, Ill. – A 20-year-old has been convicted in a fatal shooting on Peoria’s Riverfront last June.
The Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office says Deziaah Hunter was found guilty today Wednesday of First Degree Murder for the death of Kenadee Wallenfang. Hunter will be sentenced on June 24th.
On June 3rd, 2025, police found Wallenfang lying on the ground near an SUV with a gunshot wound to the back of her head, and died days later.
Police found a bullet hole through the front driver’s side window with shattered glass, and a bullet hole in the back of the driver’s seat headrest.
During the three-day trial, Hunter had claimed the shooting was accidental and did not remember pulling the trigger. She testified that Wallenfang and another friend picked her up after an argument with her girlfriend, and that she was upset about the fight.
Hunter claimed that she took a gun out from her pocket and pointed it upward next to her head. She then claims she rested her head on the back of Wallenfang’s headrest, and the gun discharged. Hunter then claimed to have no memory of the day afterward.
Prosecutors say that evidence was contradicted. A crime scene detective used a trajectory rod to show the bullet’s direction, with jurors shown the path traveling nearly straight forward through the center of the driver’s headrest, as if someone was sitting in the backseat with the gun raised execution style.
A firearm identification expert testified that the gun was equipped with a safety trigger that was designed to prevent accidental discharge, unless the trigger is intentionally pulled.
