Kevin Michael Cooper, 51, of Argenta, Illinois, was shot to death on July 11, 2021. Responders from the Macon County Sheriff’s Office discovered his body with multiple gunshot wounds at a rural Argenta residence around 6:20 p.m.; the Macon County Coroner, Michael Day, confirmed the cause of death.

Investigators say the killing followed a long‑running financial dispute between Cooper and 52‑year‑old Phillip Gehrken of Forsyth. Detectives arrested Gehrken at the scene; he was charged with homicide, unlawful use of a weapon, and possession of a weapon by a felon and was booked into the Macon County Jail.

The killing prompted a multiagency investigation involving the Macon County Sheriff’s Office and the Illinois State Police Crime Scene Division. What additional details about the dispute or the events that night might help explain how the confrontation escalated?