On the evening of July 3, 2023, police in Champaign, Illinois, were dispatched to the 2500 block of West Springfield Avenue at 7:06 p.m. for a report of a shooting. Officers found evidence of gunfire on an apartment door and conducted a welfare check inside. There, they discovered Marcus Catchings, a 27-year-old Black man, unresponsive from an apparent gunshot wound. Paramedics were called to the scene, but Catchings was pronounced deceased.
The Champaign Police Department launched a homicide investigation. Over the following weeks, detectives developed a suspect, and on August 25, 2023, the United States Marshal Service arrested 24-year-old William Wesley in Atlanta, Georgia. Wesley, a resident of Champaign, was transported back to Illinois and booked into the Champaign County Correctional Center to await arraignment on murder charges.
Wesley’s case went to trial in July 2024.
During the four-day trial, both the prosecution and defense agreed that Wesley had fired the single shot that killed Marcus Catchings. The central dispute was Wesley’s claim that he had acted in self-defense. Testimony revealed that the two men had a transactional relationship centered on cannabis sales. Wesley had purchased marijuana from Catchings and owed him $480. On the day of the shooting, they met to settle the debt and ended up at Catchings’ apartment.
Taking the stand in his own defense, Wesley, then 26, testified that once inside the apartment, Catchings threatened him with a gun, demanding cash and a $30,000 chain Wesley was wearing. Wesley claimed he threw the money and chain as a distraction. As Catchings bent down to retrieve the items, Wesley said he pulled his own gun and fired an unaimed "warning shot," which fatally struck Catchings behind the ear. The prosecution challenged this account, highlighting a Facebook message Wesley sent to Catchings nearly 30 minutes after the shooting, which they argued was an attempt to create an alibi.
After deliberating for nearly seven hours, the jury rejected Wesley’s self-defense argument. On July 12, 2024, they found him guilty of first-degree murder. The jury also made a special finding that Wesley had used a firearm during the crime, a factor that could extend his prison sentence. As of July 2024, Wesley was awaiting his sentencing, which was scheduled for September 8.
