Jury finds Yorkville man guilty in 2003 killing of Tyesha Bell in Aurora
A jury found a man guilty in the killing of a woman who vanished from west suburban Aurora in 2003.
Prince L. Cunningham, 53, of Yorkville, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the May 2003 shooting of 22-year-old Tyesha Bell of Aurora.
Aurora police said Bell was last seen by her sister inside the apartment they shared in the 800 block of North Randall Road on May 10, 2003. After getting a call, she left home, with the TV still on, her purse and identification left behind, and candles still burning in her bedroom. Her family hasn't seen or heard from her since.
Prosecutors say during the early morning hours of May 9, 2003, Bell left her Aurora apartment, where she lived with her sister and 1-year-old daughter, to meet Cunningham. Prosecutors say Cunningham was in a dating relationship with Bell, even though he was already married and was the father of her daughter.
Cunningham told Bell he would meet her outside the apartment and give her money to buy a new car. The last call Bell received on her cell phone was from Cunningham, prosecutors said.
In the months prior, Cunningham convinced Bell to end their court-ordered child support arrangement and instead let him give her cash, according to prosecutors. They frequently met to exchange money. Cunningham also once called the police on Bell after she showed up at his house in Aurora, where he lived at the time with his wife.
In the days after Bell's disappearance, Cunningham initially told police that he hadn't spoken on the phone with her in months and claimed that he was not the father of their daughter. Cunningham also contacted the Montgomery Police Department, claiming that a pair of Converse shoes had been stolen from his car and suggested Bell may have been involved.
Prosecutors say that Cunningham additionally contacted his wireless carrier to ask that his phone be deactivated, changed his number, and gave his car to his niece, creating a months-long delay for police to find and search the vehicle.
Bell was missing for 17 years until December 2020, her bones, clothes, and personal items were found in a wooded part of Kane County in a shallow grave, and were taken to the Kane County morgue for additional testing. Prosecutors say that a Converse shoe, appearing to be the same age as the remains, was also found. An autopsy and forensic analysis determined the remains belonged to Bell, who had died from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Cunningham was indicted and arrested in June 2022. He remains in custody at Kane County Jail.
He is due back in court on July 31 at the Kane County Judicial Center for post-trial motions.
Cunningham faces a sentence between 45 and 85 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
