A Decatur man sentenced to 45 years in prison following the murder of a 20-year-old Bloomington man in 2018 is petitioning the court for a new trial.
Attorneys for Anthony Grampsas, now 24, have filed a post-conviction petition arguing that new evidence from three individuals involved in the 2018 home invasion and shooting indicates Grampsas is innocent.
Egerton Dover was shot and killed just before 5 a.m. on Dec. 5, 2018, inside his home in the 800 block of West Jefferson Street. At the time, prosecutors said Dover had been targeted for robbery after being at a gathering in Normal the night before. Some at that gathering were upset that Dover did not share marijuana, according to prosecutor Mary Lawson.
Grampsas and a co-defendent, 26-year-old Tyjuan Bruce, were accused of being involved with the breaking into Dover's apartment in an effort to rob him of marijuana. Dover died after being shot three times; the alleged perpetrator of the shooting, Curtis Hairston Jr., diedin an unrelated Decatur shooting a month later.
While Grampsas was not accused of committing the shooting, the state charged him under a law that allows felony murder charges to be brought if a person is determined to be involved in a felony act that leads to a murder.
The state argued Grampsas drove the car used in the robbery, and was accused of being an accessory to the robbery and murder. Grampsas' defense attorney at the time, Steve Skelton, asked jurors to consider testimony from a witness who said she heard Grampsas talking to her son for 10 to 15 minutes at her home near Dover’s apartment sometime after her alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. Police were summoned to Dover’s home at 4:45 a.m.
The state’s theory that Grampsas was with the shooting suspects is based on “pure speculation,” Skelton said at the time.
Ultimately, he was convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison by Judge Scott Drazewski in 2020.
On Friday, defense attorney Doug Johnson said affidavits filed with the post-conviction petition show that other people involved in the incident told police that Grampsas "knew nothing" about the robbery and killing.
Lawson, arguing for the state on Friday, said the affidavits failed to meet various evidentiary criteria, including being conclusive enough to result in a different outcome in a new trial, as well as being "newly discovered."
"It's our position that two of them are not new evidence, but none of them are conclusive in nature," Lawson said.
In a statement before Friday's hearing, Grampsas' grandmother, Jane Hoobler said they and attorneys believe he is "innocent of any knowledge, planning, participation in the crimes for which he was convicted of and sentenced for in 2020."
"The actual perpetrator had borrowed his car and left a message at the residence where Anthony was with a friend. The message was, 'be back soon... going to the store,'" she wrote. "Even though Anthony had been a passenger in his car which was not driven by him at a party, nothing was said about any robbery."
Judge William Yoder presided at Friday's hearing. Prior to adjourning, Yoder told attorneys it would likely take several days before deciding whether to dismiss — as the state has argued for — or not. Another court date has not been set.
Edith Brady-Lunny and Ryan Denham contributed reporting.
