PEORIA, Ill. – A woman will spend more than five decades in prison for a fatal shooting on Peoria’s Riverfront last year.
The Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office says 20-year-old Deziaah Hunter was sentenced to 53 years in prison on Wednesday. Hunter was found guilty in April of First-Degree Murder for the June 2025 fatal shooting of 18-year-old Kenadee Wallenfang.
Wallenfang was found with a gunshot wound to the back of her head, and died days later at a hospital. Wallenfang was the driver of a vehicle and she and Hunter were in, with Hunter seated behind her.
A bullet hole was found in the back of the driver’s seat headrest, along with powder burns. Hunter claimed the shooting was accidental.
A gun was found on Hunter, and a single spent shell casing was found in her pocket. Prosecutors say a trajectory rod showed the bullet traveling straight forward, as if the gun was raised and pointed directly in the back of the driver’s head.
During the sentencing hearing, Wallenfang’s mother testified that her daughter would always keep her phone with her to take pictures and videos, as well as making TikToks with her cousin.
The mother testified that it would drive her nuts at the time, but is now grateful that Kenadee did so because those are some of the only memories she had left of her daughter.
The mother also addressed Hunter directly, saying “You didn’t just take her life; you also stole mine.”
Chief Judge Katherine Gorman says the sentence would not bring Kenadee back, nor change what Hunter did. But Gorman told Hunter her actions had caused more collateral damage for her loved ones, as well as Kenadee’s.
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