Insets, from left: Michael Wallace, Bobby Gipson (Macon County Jail) and Caleb Witty (Facebook). Background: the 2200 block of E. Johns Avenue, where police say Wallace and Gipson killed Witty (Google Maps).
An Illinois man has pleaded guilty to fatally shooting 17-year-old Caleb Witty at close range after the teenager stepped in to protect his younger sister during an alleged robbery attempt as they walked home from a street festival.
Michael Wallace, 36, pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree murder in Witty’s 2011 death in Decatur. He faces a sentence of at least 40 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 8.
The killing remained unsolved for more than a decade before police arrested Wallace and Bobby Gipson, now 37, in 2024. Gipson also faces a first-degree murder charge and is due in court Nov. 5.
According to police, Witty and his then-14-year-old sister were walking home from the Decatur Celebration street festival at about 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 4, 2011. The siblings were in the 2200 block of E. Johns Avenue when Wallace and Gipson allegedly attempted to rob them.
Witty placed himself between the attackers and his sister, allowing her time to escape. Police said the shooter then struck him in the arm and chest.
Police said Wallace and Gipson ran from the scene. Witty died from his injuries.
The investigation ultimately led to the suspects’ arrests after witnesses came forward with information considered crucial to the case.
“Today, thanks to the tireless efforts of our law enforcement community, Caleb’s family, and ordinary people willing to do the right thing and come forward as witnesses, the defendant is held accountable for killing Caleb Witty,” the Macon County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement to Law&Crime.
Gipson had left the area and was arrested in Tennessee, while Wallace was taken into custody in Decatur. Both men have remained jailed without bond in the Macon County Jail since their arrests.
“Caleb Witty was a young man simply trying to enjoy an evening at the Decatur Celebration with his sister. And he was murdered for nothing,” the Decatur Police Department said after the arrests. “Words cannot even describe the senselessness of this crime. His untimely death was a profound loss that left a deep void in the hearts of those who knew him.”
The post Teen died protecting younger sister during robbery attempt on walk home from street festival — now 1 of his killers has pleaded guilty first appeared on Law & Crime.
