Jury quickly finds Champaign man guilty of murder in shooting death of his daughter

Jul. 26—URBANA — It took a Champaign County jury less than an hour Wednesday to find a 70-year-old Champaign man guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his daughter.

Raymond C. Gwin was arrested last September in connection with the July 14, 2022, death of his 34-year-old daughter, Latoya Gwin, who died of a single gunshot wound to her neck.

The shooting followed an extended argument between father and daughter that had already brought police to the Gwin rental home in the 400 block of East Beardsley Avenue just a couple of hours beforehand.

The jury also found that the following allegation was proven — that during the commission of first-degree murder, Gwin personally discharged a firearm that caused death to his daughter.

Champaign County Judge Randy Rosenbaum scheduled Gwin's sentencing for 3:30 p.m. Sept. 7.

Gwin faces a sentence from 45 years to life in prison without parole.

Gwin contended in statements to police that he felt threatened because he believed his daughter was going to hit him with a hammer.

In closing arguments Wednesday, Assistant State's Attorney Kristin Alferink reminded the jury that most of what was presented in the evidence Tuesday wasn't in dispute.

"The defendant shot his daughter — not in dispute," she said.

What was in dispute was whether Gwin was legally justified in shooting his daughter, she said, and the evidence showed "he was not."

A recording of the shooting and what led up to it that police obtained from Gwin's cellphone and that Alferink played for the jury includes the victim saying to her father that he'd hit her with a hammer and that she was calling police.

The recording then includes a noise that sounds like a gunshot and Gwin saying right after that, "That's what I wanted."

"The belief at that moment was she was going to call the police," Alferink said. "He wasn't afraid of her. He was afraid of the police coming."

While Gwin called 911 to report the shooting afterward, Alferink contended Gwin knew that if his daughter was dead, she couldn't contradict what he was saying.

She also said Gwin had slapped and hit his daughter numerous times and that police were routinely at the home for domestic disturbances.

Gwin's attorney, James Dedman, called the entire episode a tragedy and said reality for his client was that his daughter was going to hit him with a hammer.

"What we have here are two alternative realities," he said.

He asked the jury what the motive would have been for a man Gwin's age without a criminal history to commit a murder on his daughter.

He also reminded the jurors that it was Gwin who had called police previously in the early morning hours of July 14 when he and his daughter were arguing and again after the shooting.

"What's the motive of this crime? What does he have to gain by killing his daughter," Dedman said.

Dedman also said that Gwin had been up all night, drinking, and if he had intended to kill his daughter, why wouldn't he have shot her again after she hit the floor.

Alferink argued in response that not every shooting and not every murder has a motive.

If there is a moral lesson in this case, Dedman said, it's that "you never know when it's the end."

"Be careful what you say to people you care about," he said.