‘Talk is cheap’: Eyler challenges Bynum to improve himself as he receives 15-year prison sentence

QUINCY —Adams County State’s Attorney Todd Eyler issued a challenge as he argued for Wyond Bynum Jr. to receive the 15-year maximum sentence to the Illinois Department of Corrections for second-degree murder in the Aug. 14, 2023, shooting death of Jaycob Rowland in Camp Point.

Eyler pointed out during a sentencing hearing Monday afternoon in Adams County Circuit Court that Bynum was “blaming someone else” in a pre-sentence investigation report.

“He’s already victim blaming,” Eyler said. “He hasn’t learned a darn thing sitting in (the Adams County) jail for 561 days. He hasn’t changed. He hasn’t thought about it. He wants to basically say it’s all Jaycob’s fault. … Finally, I saw a glimmer of hope (in the PSI), because he says (he) would like for things to be different moving forward. On the very last page, he says, ‘I would like to get out (of prison) and become a new and improved Wyond.’

“You’re going to get your chance because eventually you’re going to get out of jail. If that’s really who you are in those two statements, then prove it. Prove it to yourself. Prove it to your family. Prove it to the Rowland family because talk is cheap. If proving it to your family isn’t enough, if proving it to the Rowland family and yourself isn’t enough, prove it to your young daughter who’s been brought to court numerous times.”

Bynum, who wiped tears from his eyes after Eyler’s comments, can begin to prove himself in prison.

He had been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, a Class M felony, and could have been sentenced to 45 years to natural life in prison. However, he pled guilty to second-degree murder on Jan. 13 in Adams County Circuit Court to second-degree murder. He was eligible to receive 20 years in prison, but as part of his plea, his sentence was capped at 15 years, and the three first-degree murder charges were dismissed.

Circuit Judge Holly Henze gave Bynum, 19, the 15-year maximum. However, Bynum has no prior felonies on his record and is eligible for 50 percent sentencing under Illinois’ truth in sentencing law. He was credited with 561 days served in the Adams County Jail, which means he’ll spend around five to six years in prison.

When making his statement of allocution, Bynum said, “I would like to say I am remorseful. Really, other than what the state and my attorneys have said, I don’t want this to diminish my character, like I’m a murderer, because I’m not. … I will ask for (Henze) to impose a sentence that you think is right and not what I want, not what the state wants.”

Chief Public Defender Jonathan Hoover had asked for a sentence of eight years or less, saying that 15 years was “excessive.” He said a doctor noted in a fitness evaluation of Bynum that his mindset was “not a criminal mindset” and Bynum’s sale of marijuana to Rowland and friends Blake Sisk and Dekota Schaler “involved his childhood friend, not random people.”

“I disagree with Mr. Eyler in regard to Wyond not learning anything from his period of incarceration,” Hoover said. “He’s been in jail 561 days, a year and a half plus more, and during that time, he’s receiving services from Clarity (Healthcare) for treatment. He’s not been problematic, and he has taken what steps he can take while incarcerated — which limits your options — to improve his life and be better.”

In arguing for the 15-year sentence, Eyler admitted that nothing he said “will lessen the pain.”

“The criminal system can only do so much,” he said. “When you have facts of cases that impede the imposition of justice, it only complicates things. This is one of those cases. I said at the time of the plea, when I gave a factual basis, some of the limiting facts in this case get in the way. Regardless, there’s one fact that cannot be ignored and cannot be changed, and that is that Jaycob Rowland is dead.”

Sisk and Schaler told law enforcement officials on the night of the shooting that Rowland wanted to set up a situation where he would “jump” Bynum. Rowland used Sisk’s phone to arrange to buy $350 of marijuana from Bynum. When Sisk drove the truck to Bynum’s home, Rowland was lying in the back seat of the truck. When Bynum came out of the home, Rowland got out of the truck and attempted to “jump” Bynum.

Sisk and Schaler reported that Bynum started to run away, and as he did, he shot Rowland multiple times.

Lameisha Tripp, Rowland’s half-sister, read a victim impact statement. Trisha Hubbard, victim witness advocate for the Adams County State’s Attorney’s Office, read statements from Sadie Mae, Rowland’s girlfriend, and Sybil Rowland, his mother.

Tripp said she was “really disgusted” with how Rowland died. “My son will never know how great he was,” she said.

Mae said she had been Rowland’s girlfriend since she was 16 years old.

“This disgusting, inhuman act isn’t some drug deal gone wrong or a planned jumping,” she wrote. “This act comes from the Bynum family harassing the Rowlands. For years, it’s been altercation after altercation, threat after threat.

“Adams County has failed him and his family on multiple occasions. We will not let his story go unheard.”

Sybil Rowland told Bynum he should be “terrified.”

“You murdered a son of the almighty King, the one true God who Jaycob belongs to. We all do,” she said. “My God promises to judge you and all your evil family and friends who haunt us. … God will judge you all, and we will be his right-hand witness to it all. Shame on you and all your evil friends.”

Henze said in her ruling that Eyler mentioned deterrent and punishment as reasons for a 15-year sentence. 

“Both are sentencing goals, and we do have to deter others from crimes of this type, despite what Mr. Hoover argued that this wasn’t a drug deal,” Henze said. “In Wyond’s mind, he was going to sell drugs, and he took a gun with him to do this.

“Another sentencing goal is rehabilitation. You’re 19 years old, and I’m hopeful your time would be spent to improve — those were your words — and mature. You’ll still be young. You still have time to be a father to your daughter. You can be more than a father. You can be a positive role model to your daughter.”