Julius J. Peyton, a 49-year-old African American man from Peoria, Illinois, was found dead on August 9, 2022, with multiple gunshot wounds that the Peoria County Coroner, Jamie Harwood, said caused his instantaneous death. Officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert of four rounds on West Kettelle Street in South Peoria and located Peyton unresponsive inside a house on that block; CPR was attempted but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Peyton worked for Peoria Public School District 150 as a teacher, coach, and maintenance engineer and was remembered by family and friends for his mentorship and efforts to inspire local youth. His death was the 15th homicide in Peoria for 2022. No arrests had been made at the time of reporting and investigators asked anyone with information to come forward.

If anyone knew Julius or has information about what happened on West Kettelle Street that night, please share what you know.