A 15-year-old Illinois boy seen on doorbell footage walking through a neighborhood dressed as a clown has been charged with first-degree murder after authorities say he fatally stabbed an elderly neighbor.
Illinois State Police said officers were called to an intersection in East St. Louis shortly after 10 p.m. Monday following reports that a body had been found in the roadway.
The teenager, whose name has not been released because of his age, was taken into custody Tuesday as investigators pursued the homicide case.
State police said Thursday that the 15-year-old had been formally charged with first-degree murder.
The St. Clair County Coroner identified the victim as 78-year-old John Wesley Allen Sr.
According to Illinois State Police, Allen Sr. was waiting at a bus stop when he was randomly attacked by the teen, who was wearing a clown costume.
Special agents later identified the 15-year-old as the suspect, found him at a nearby residence and arrested him. He remained in custody as of Thursday evening.
Chilling doorbell camera footage captured the masked teen, wide-eyed and dressed as a clown, going from house to house in the neighborhood before the deadly stabbing.
This 15-year-old boy was charged with first-degree murder after he was caught staring into a local Ring camera, which was shared on Facebook by Lora Palmer
The teenager was taken into custody on Tuesday by the Illinois State Police as part of a homicide investigation. His alleged victim was identified as John Wesley Allen Sr, 78,
In the doorbell camera video, the masked suspect approached the camera and seemed to quietly utter, ‘I’ve been looking for you’
The footage was shared by East St Louis resident Lora Palmer, who said the camera belonged to her mom.
In a hushed tone, the masked suspect appeared to whisper either ‘I have a gift for you’ or ‘I’ve been looking for you.’
Illinois State Police said that ‘video footage of the suspect dressed in a clown costume has been circulating’ and that they were working to ‘collect all relevant video.’
After the arrest, law enforcement said there was no threat remaining to the public.
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Allen was pronounced dead at the scene just before 11.30pm.
Lee Palmer told FirstAlert4 that his mother was home alone when the teenager in the clown attire appeared on the front porch.
The teen stayed on their property for minutes before going behind the house, which caused Palmer to become deeply concerned.
‘He’s going to kill everybody in the house,’ Palmer told FirstAlert4. ‘Why out of all the houses, why come to this house?’
The footage was captured on Lora Palmer’s Ring camera. Her son, Lee, said Lora was home alone when the masked teenager appeared
Palmer said his chief concern was that the teen could be armed and hurt his mother.
‘I couldn’t believe it,’ he said. ‘That was kind of spooky for her.’
Palmer added that the best thing he could do was ‘keep being safe’ and urged his neighbors to get a Ring camera.
He said the teen was ‘not in the right state of mind to walk on somebody’s porch like that.’
‘It’s just unimaginable,’ Palmer told NBC News.
The distance from where the Ring camera footage was captured in the 8200 block of Carol Drive and the intersection where Allen was found is about a 10-minute walk.
A separate neighbor, Corrine Spry, said she was on the back porch with her family when she spotted the attacker twirling a knife.
‘He was up to no good,’ Spry told the outlet. ‘We’re pretty positive he circled back around in these woods, because you could hear the sticks breaking.’
The East St Louis Police Department originally responded to a body, later identified as John Wesley Allen Sr, 78, at the the intersection of North 76th Street and State Street on Monday
Spry said the teen roamed the area for roughly 45 minutes before law enforcement arrived.
She feared that he could have attacked anyone in her neighborhood.
