Conference with judge scheduled for Quincy man charged in July 2024 shooting incident outside TJ Maxx

QUINCY — The case of a Quincy man facing a charge of attempted first-degree murder and four other felony charges stemming from a July 6, 2024, shooting incident in the TJ Maxx parking lot at the Prairie Trails Crossing shopping center could still go to trial next month. 

However, a special conference has been set for Monday that could lead to a negotiated plea.

Alan Pacheco, 22, appeared with attorney Ryan Schuenke during a status hearing Wednesday morning in Adams County Circuit Court with Circuit Judge Holly Henze.

At the beginning of Wednesday’s hearing, Schuenke told Henze of Pacheco’s “potential interest in a resolution.”

(Adams County State’s Attorney Todd) Eyler and I have talked about potential dispositions, but we’re still quite a ways off on the end result,” Scheunke said.

He suggested the two sides have a 402A conference.

A 402A conference is a meeting that takes place at the defendant’s request and with the prosecutor’s consent. The judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney can discuss the plea bargain’s details so long as the defendant consents. If a judge participates in the plea negotiations through a 402A conference, he or she indicates what the penalty will be if the defendant pleads guilty. The 402A conference provides more certainty to the parties as the judge will be bound by the penalty he or she indicates in the conference.

The trial is on the July docket, which begins July 7, before Judge T.J. Wessel. Many of Pacheco’s hearings have been before Henze.

“In my understanding of the 402As, since (Henze is) not the judge who’s hearing the trial, she can have a conference,” Schuenke said after the hearing. “She’s obviously heard some of the facts that we know when you do these pre-trial detention hearings. Since she would ultimately be the judge who would approve or not approve a plea negotiation, it’s almost like a mediation in a criminal court setting.

“Ultimately, if we resolve it, and (Henze) gives us kind of a thought process, then I think it could push us across the finish line.”

Eyler told Henze that he was “not opposed” to a 402A conference.

“We have not talked about that before,” he said. “I’m assuming this would be before (Henze) as opposed to the trial judge. … Mr. Schuenke had a very good point if this results in some type of negotiation.”

Henze agreed to participate in the conference on Monday afternoon.

Schuenke said he made the request because Pacheco doesn’t want to risk going to prison.

(If the 402A conference doesn’t create a resolution), then why not go to trial?” Schuenke said. “Let the facts come out and let 12 people decide if what he did was right or wrong.

“(Henze) knows the facts. There’s an argument for self-defense. She’s not deciding whether he’s guilty or not. Obviously, she’s just going to say, ‘Hey, look, based on these facts, I would do X at sentencing or I would likely do Y.’’

The trial for Pacheco was stricken last month from the June docket. The trial previously was on the December docket and the February docket.

Pacheco had been lodged in the Adams County Jail since his arrest but was placed on house arrest after a Dec. 7 hearing and is on GPS monitoring.

Pacheco has been charged with:

• Two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony punishable for between five and 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, for discharging a firearm at Terrance Horton and Islam D. Woodson.
• One count of aggravated battery with a firearm, a Class X felony punishable for between six and 30 years in prison, for discharging a firearm and causing injury to Horton.
• One count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, a Class 4 felony punishable for between one and three years in prison, for knowingly possessing a Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 9mm handgun when he was not on his land, his home or his place of business.
• One count of attempted first-degree murder, a Class X felony punishable for between 25 years to natural life in prison, in that he knowingly discharged a firearm with intent to kill Horton. 

Officers from the Quincy Police Department were dispatched July 6, 2024, to 6210 Broadway to a shooting incident in the parking lot in front of TJ Maxx. Officers from the Quincy Police Department, Adams County Sheriff’s Department and the Illinois State Police responded and found Horton on the ground with apparent gunshot wounds.

Pacheco was taken into custody after returning to the scene.

Schuenke argued during a July 2024 hearing that Woodson and Horton stalked Pacheco and his girlfriend as they were shopping at TJ Maxx, then attacked them as they sat in Pacheco’s vehicle. He said Pacheco acted in self-defense when he shot Horton and fired his weapon at Woodson but intentionally shot at the ground to scare him.

Horton was sentenced to 24 months of probation after pleading guilty to an October 2022 charge of aggravated battery in a public place. He is in danger of having probation revoked after he was charged in connection to the July 6, 2024, incident at TJ Maxx with possession of a weapon by a felon, a Class 3 felony; unlawful vehicular invasion, a Class 1 felony; and aggravated battery in a public place, a Class 3 felony.