Darius Floyd, 35, a male from Bloomington, was shot late on the night of July 17, 2025, on the city’s west side. Police were called just after 11:30 p.m. to the 1700 block of West Illinois Street, near the Sunnyside Housing Complex, for a report of a man shot in the head. He was taken to Carle BroMenn Medical Center in Normal and pronounced dead at 2:14 p.m. the next day. A preliminary autopsy found he died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Investigators quickly focused on a 17-year-old from Bloomington. By midday on July 18, officers executed a search warrant at a residence in the 1400 block of West Wood Street and arrested the teen without incident, seizing two firearms in the process. Prosecutors later charged him as an adult with multiple counts of first-degree murder and several weapons offenses. Authorities initially declined to release his name because of his age, but confirmed he was being held at the McLean County Juvenile Detention Facility.
Court documents described a confrontation that evening tied to firearms. The teen told investigators he had been holding a gun for Floyd and met him to return it; he alleged Floyd became angry, took a semi-automatic pistol, and pressed it into the teen’s back, prompting the teen to fire a 9mm handgun. Detectives also reported recovering a conversion “switch” that can make a gun fire automatically. In addition to the murder counts, charges included unlawful use of weapons, invalid FOID registration, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
In the hours after the shooting and before the arrest, police said public safety cameras captured a vehicle leaving the area; the driver later told officers she had dropped the teen off near West Wood Street, helping direct investigators to the search location. The case remained under active investigation following the arrest and charging, with authorities noting that toxicology testing for the victim was pending at the time.
