Prosecution rests case in trial of Champaign man in 2020 shooting that left another paralyzed
Mar. 20—URBANA — Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday in the trial of a Champaign man charged with attempted murder for allegedly shooting a man in 2020.
Coreyon A. Duncan, 35, stands charged of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm before Champaign County Judge Roger Webber.
The state alleged that Duncan shot a then-31-year-old man several times around 8 p.m. May 26, 2020, outside a house in the 3200 block of Ridgewood Drive.
The victim, who was hit in the neck, chest and pelvis, survived the shooting but was left partially paralyzed.
In opening statements, Public Defender Elisabeth Pollock emphasized that many people were at the scene of the shooting and no one saw Duncan shoot the victim in question.
Prosecutors called a man to the stand who testified he was hanging out with a group of people at his home on May 26 before he saw everybody get into their cars to leave around when the sun was starting to set.
The man testified he went into his house to take a shower when he heard three to four gunshots outside. He then saw one of the men he had been hanging out with down on the grass, shot.
He testified he could not remember if Duncan had been present in the group and did not recall telling a detective after the shooting that Duncan was there.
Prosecutors played body-cam footage from a Champaign police officer who arrived on scene. While the officer administered first-aid to the bleeding gunshot victim, he asked, "Who shot you?"
"Coreyon Duncan," the man answered, before he was carried into an ambulance.
Prosecutors went on to call a handful of neighbors to the stand who lived near where the shooting took place.
Two testified they saw a group of seven to 10 people hanging out together outside a house in the 3200 block of Ridgewood before they heard gunshots. One woman recorded a video that captured a red vehicle pulling away from the house after the shots rang out.
Prosecutors also called a police officer who recovered two 9 mm bullet casings from the crime scene and a detective who interviewed Duncan after he was arrested in March 2021 in Las Vegas on an outstanding warrant for attempted murder.
In the recording of the interview, Duncan indicated he went to Nevada in December 2020 after he learned of the warrant and was waiting to get his money together to fight the case with a private attorney.
In the video, Duncan told officers that he and the shooting victim "grew up as family," as their mothers raised them together. Duncan told the detective he had nothing to hide and had evidence to support his innocence in text messages on a phone he had buried by a highway.
Prosecutors then called a man to the stand who said he is related to Duncan by blood and that the shooting victim is also his cousin through marriage.
The man, who is currently serving a prison sentence for an unrelated case, said he was interviewed by police multiple times while in jail, but did not recall the statements he gave or whether he was at the house in the 3200 block of Ridgewood Drive when the May 26 shooting took place.
Prosecutors later played a video of an interview the man had with a detective. In the recording, the man brings up Duncan without the police naming him first, indicates he was at the shooting and tells the detective that Duncan shot his cousin.
Assistant State's Attorney Brooke Hinman read from a transcript of the interview, but the man repeatedly said he did not recall telling a detective that he saw the shooting or that he knew Duncan had a red car. The man said "I know Coreyon Duncan is not the one" responsible.
Pollock indicated that the man was in a "boatload of trouble" with police at the time of the interview and asked him if he told detectives what they wanted to hear.
The man said "yes," that he was going off hearsay when he gave them Duncan's name and he could have been lying when he spoke to the detective. Pollock later noted that the man was not under oath when the interview took place.
Prosecutors also called an analyst with the Mid-States Organized Crime Info Center to the stand who showed evidence that a cellphone linked to Duncan was in the area of the shooting.
Evidence from the defense and closing arguments are set to take place today. If convicted of attempted murder, Duncan faces 31 years to life in prison.
