Izreal B. Lewis, a 19-year-old Black man from Decatur, Illinois, was killed in a shooting on the afternoon of January 28, 2025. Officers with the Decatur Police Department were called to the parking lot of 550 South Church Street at approximately 12:01 p.m. for reports of gunfire. When they arrived, they found Izreal suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed by ambulance to Decatur Memorial Hospital, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 p.m. The Macon County Coroner later confirmed his cause of death was trauma from the gunshot wounds.
Detectives from the department's Criminal Investigations Division launched a homicide investigation, securing the crime scene where they recovered 17 shell casings. In the days that followed, investigators conducted numerous interviews and executed search warrants at homes in the 2500 block of East North Street and the 1700 block of North 34th Street.
The searches resulted in the seizure of two firearms, ammunition, and various electronic devices as evidence.
The investigation led police to identify three individuals as suspects in Izreal's death. On the authority of an arrest warrant, the United States Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force located and apprehended 32-year-old Dana E. Bond Jr. at a residence in Decatur. He was booked into the Macon County Jail. Authorities also charged two other individuals who were already in custody on unrelated weapons charges: 27-year-old Brett A. Ballard Jr., who was in the Macon County Jail, and a 16-year-old male who was being held in a juvenile detention facility.
All three suspects were charged with first-degree murder in connection with Izreal’s killing. The two adult defendants, Dana E. Bond Jr. and Brett A. Ballard Jr., have since pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. As of their court appearances, the cases are proceeding through the Macon County court system.
