By 25 News
MCLEAN COUNTY – A 14-year-old boy from the St. Louis area is charged as an adult in McLean County for his role in a burglary in which 25 guns were stolen from a Bloomington business last December, including one weapon reportedly used last year to shoot a 13-year-old boy in Peoria.
McLean County State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds said she sought the transfer from juvenile to adult court because of the number of guns involved.
Antwan Freeman, 14, from Grafton is charged with possession of the stolen firearms, a Class X felony, and burglary to Smiley’s Sports Shop on Ireland Grove Road in Bloomington on Dec. 12 of last year.
A news release from federal prosecutors about a co-defendant’s case said a juvenile female with her infant child drove accomplice DaJuan Edwards-Melton and two juvenile males to Midwest Exchange on East Empire, but they couldn’t get inside. So, they drove to Smiley’s where they broke through a window and stole 24 handguns and an AR-15, according to federal authorities.
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office said two of the stolen guns were used in Peoria to shoot the 13-year-old, and during a carjacking. Also, the U.S. Attorney said a domestic battery suspect arrested during a foot chase was found in possession of one of the guns.
In September, Edwards-Melton was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison.
McLean County prosecutors charged Freeman with two other felonies for the burglary and criminal damage to Midwest Exchange.
Freeman is being held in the McLean County Juvenile Detention Center on $270,000 bond, meaning he can be released if he posts 10% of that or $27,000 cash.
HIs next court date is scheduled for Jan. 6.
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