A Marion County Jury deliberated about four hours before finding Ricky Norwood of Centralia guilty of the August 2015 first-degree murder of Dustin Rhynes of Centralia. Rhynes was found lying near a garage on East Haussler Street with a single gunshot wound to the back.
Sentencing was set for Wednesday, December 6th, at 1:30 p.m. following a presentence investigation.
State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth says he would be seeking a long sentence.
“I’m very thrilled and pleased with the jury’s verdict. It was a long four days, probably the longest was waiting three to four hours for the verdict to come in. It was a tough case. The evidence was there that we knew that Ricky Norwood killed Dustin Rhynes. It was a matter of getting that presented in a way that the jury could understand it and they did. I think they absolutely came to the right decision. Justice was served. Justice for Dustin is finally here. I’m just very happy to be able to provide that bit of closure or peace to his family.”
Hudspeth did not feel there was one key piece of evidence or person. He notes from the opening statement he told the jury this was a circumstantial evidence case and it was. Hudspeth says they had to have everything to get the conviction.
Hudspeth added this case is an example of when people see bad things happen in their community, and they report those things to the police, they can and will prosecute and punish those responsible. Through this type of cooperation, Hudspeth says we will make our communities safer.
Hudspeth thanked Retired Illinois State Police Special Agent Jeff Kline, who led the investigation from the time of the shooting until 2018, and Illinois State Police Sergeant Travis Rinehart, who led the investigation from 2018 through the trial. Hudspeth also notes numerous other members of the Illinois State Police and the Centralia Police Department worked countless hours to obtain the evidence necessary to secure this conviction. Without the work of each and every person involved, Hudspeth says the conviction would not have been possible.
In his closing statement, Hudspeth ran down a series of events that preceded Rhynes being found dead. That included several witnesses who testified of Norwood’s sister, Sandra, getting upset with gunshots fired by Rhynes and Charles Collins into an open field near her home and Sandra going to her brother Ricky at a BBQ and card game to express her anger. One of those at the BBQ, Devonte Whitelow, told police at the time there was a gun on the table during a card game that was gone after Norwood left with another man. Hudspeth says other evidence included Janice Shipley hearing something related to a gunshot and identifying one of three men seen running and getting into a van parked in front of her house as Norwood. Lorrie Ann Sharkey testified to hearing and seeing gunfire while sitting on her back porch coming from the area of BCMW and two men running in the dark. Rhynes’s body was found the next morning about two blocks away.
In his closing argument, Defense Attorney Dennis Hatch reminded the jury for a conviction Norwood had to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and the crime scene technicians did not corroborate the story. He called the case botched and maintained the testimony from Norwood’s cellmate at the Marion County Jail, Damon Brown, something that never took place. Brown said Norwood planned to blame another man for the murder if things were not going well for him.
Hatch declined to comment after the verdict was announced until talking to the family.
The jury deliberations began at 11:05 Friday morning. At 12:15 p.m., the jury asked if they could have additional reports. The request was denied. At 2:40 p.m., the jury reported being deadlocked. After being given instructions, the jury submitted a question at 3:00 that was answered in writing. The jury then announced they had a verdict at 3:15 p.m.
After being indicted by a Marion County Grand Jury, Norwood was returned to Marion County in March of last year to stand trial on the murder charge. He still has time to serve on the federal conviction in addition to whatever sentence he receives on the murder conviction.
