Bloomington Police are asking for the public’s help as they investigate the fatal shooting of a Normal man early Saturday on the city’s west side.
Officers responded to reports of a fight around 1:50 a.m. Saturday to the 1600 block of West Olive Street in Bloomington, near the Sunnyside Court public housing complex, police said.
Found dead at the scene was 20-year-old Dylan Meserole. Preliminary autopsy opinion indicates Meserole died from a gunshot wound.
Meserole was a witness who testified in the 2020 murder trial of Anthony Grampsas, who was convicted of killing Egerton Dover in Bloomington. The state agreed to forgo criminal charges against Meserole in exchange for his cooperation with the case.
There have been no arrests in Meserole's killing and no suspect information was released.
“The circumstances regarding the death are still under investigation,” Bloomington Police said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the family as they mourn their loss. We need the help of our fellow community members and are asking anyone with information to contact Detective Jesse Lanphear at (309) 434‐2369 or at jlanphear@cityblm.org or contact Detective Curt Maas at (309) 434‐2354 or at cmaas@cityblm.org.”
This is at least the second gun homicide in Bloomington in the first six weeks of 2022.
Timothy Q. Manns, 29, of Bloomington, was shot and killed Jan. 24 in an apartment in the 600 block of West Jefferson Street. His killing is still under investigation, with no arrests.
Bloomington-Normal recorded at least seven homicides in 2021, including six involving guns. That’s well above the norm and the most since 2018, when there were 11 homicides in Bloomington-Normal, all but two involving guns.
