On October 13, 2024, at approximately 1:08 a.m., Springfield Police responded to a report of shots fired near 17th and Cook Street. Officers located Antoine Williams, 39, in the front seat of a vehicle with a gunshot wound. Williams was transported to HSHS St. John's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:54 a.m. following emergency treatment. An autopsy revealed that Williams died from multiple gunshot wounds.
The Springfield Police Department, along with the Sangamon County Coroner's Office, immediately launched an investigation. On October 14, 2024, at approximately 3:49 p.m., the Springfield Police Department's Emergency Response Team and Criminal Investigations Division served a search warrant in the 2000 block of S. 15th Street. Ventellis B. Cooper, a 48-year-old male from Springfield, was arrested during the raid for unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm without a FOID card.
On October 16, 2024, Cooper was formally charged by the Sangamon County State's Attorney's Office with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated unlawful use of a firearm, and one count of felon in possession of a firearm in connection with the fatal shooting of Antoine Williams. Cooper made his first court appearance and was ordered detained. His next court date is scheduled for October 31, 2024.
