Belleville man who witnessed fatal shooting remembers victim as ‘a joyful person’
7/1/24 Editor’s note: This article has been updated with information about the family ties between the victim and witnesses.
When a Belleville man was shot dead on Memorial Day morning on his driveway, there were multiple witnesses.
One of those who saw the shooting of 49-year-old Anthony Wilbourn was Izhail Hoffman.
Hoffman, 21, said Wilbourn was a “fun person” who deeply loved his family. Wilbourn was known to his family and friends as “Tony Rude,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman said his stepmother was engaged to marry Wilbourn.
“He’s just a joyful person,” is how Hoffman described Wilbourn.
“He always had the best advice.”
Hoffman said Wilbourn “always wanted to do the utmost” for his family.
And Hoffman said it was a future family member, Wilbourn’s fiance’s daughter, that he wanted to protect on Monday morning in the moments before the fatal shooting at 7300 W. A St. on the west side of Belleville.
Hoffman said a man wanted to enter the home as part of a domestic dispute sparked after Wilbourn’s fiance’s daughter broke up with him the Saturday before. Wilbourn blocked his way.
Hoffman said Wilbourn’s fiance’s daughter’s car was found vandalized in several ways, including its tires being slashed, Monday morning. There also was property damaged at the ex-boyfriend’s house, police said.
“This prompted her ex-boyfriend to respond back to her residence for a confrontation,” Belleville Assistant Police Chief Mark Heffernan said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this confrontation resulted in a tragic loss of life. Police in America exist so citizens do not have to seek ‘instant justice’ which often has tragic consequences.”
Wilbourn was pronounced dead on his driveway.
Wilbourn did not have a gun with him in the confrontation, which was witnessed by several people, Hoffman said. He also said he saw the other man pull out a gun. Police have said one firearm was recovered at the scene.
Elijah C. Nelson, 22, of the first block of Kingsway Drive in unincorporated Belleville, was arrested at the scene and subsequently charged with murder and unlawful use of a weapon/automatic weapon in connection with the shooting of Wilbourn.
Nelson was being held in the St. Clair County Jail on Thursday.
Nelson was scheduled to have a pretrial detention hearing Thursday afternoon but that hearing was moved to June 10 as his family looks to hire an attorney to represent him. His family members declined to comment at the courthouse after the hearing was rescheduled.
Hoffman, who resided with Wilbourn, said he wished police had immediately responded to the home when he first called police about 7:45 a.m. Monday about the vandalism to a car. He said Wilbourn was shot at about 8:18 a.m. but would not have been shot if police had arrived earlier.
Hoffman noted, however, that the confrontation happened quickly.
“You never know what’s going to happen in a situation like that,” he said.
Heffernan declined to release specific dispatch records for this case since it is pending in court. However, he said the police department prioritizes calls and noted that the original report stated that criminal damage to property had occurred overnight.
“A report generated after the crime has occurred where the suspect is no longer on scene is not categorized as a high priority call,” he said.
“Officers of this department attempted life-saving measures to help the victim in this case, and our heartfelt condolences go to the family of the deceased,” Heffernan said in a statement. “We do not intend to lay blame, but we will vigorously defend the men and women of this department who work tirelessly to promote public safety in Belleville.”
This story was originally published May 31, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
