PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A Central Peoria man, facing murder and RICO allegations, will appear in court on Monday to see if he will be held pending trial.
The murder that Quandarius Jones, 24, is accused of occurred on Aug. 30, 2023, when 16-year-old Antonio Walker was shot. The 16-year-old died about a month after being shot in the 2200 block of West Marquette Street. That incident left four others with gunshot wounds.
The count filed under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act alleges Jones was part of the “Snakes” street gang, which prosecutors said is linked to a “rash of violence that has plagued the area.”
Last fall, State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos filed the RICO counts against Jones and nine others. Jones was being held out of state and has just recently been released from McCracken County in Kentucky. There he was facing charges that are akin to Illinois felony charges of possession of a stolen vehicle.
RICO charges are normally seen in federal court and are products of federal investigations of organized crime. RICO counts often allege that people worked together to advance a criminal enterprise.
The Snakes are a street gang in Peoria. It appears the group is not linked to any one area within the city limits, based on records from prior incidents and arrests. Among the incidents they have been linked to are a 2024 shooting at a post-prom party in Chillicothe that left one person with a gunshot wound to the head.
Of the other nine people, all their cases are still pending.
If convicted, Jones could face decades behind bars.
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