A Kane County jury on Wednesday found Prince Cunningham guilty of murdering 22-year-old Aurora mother Tyesha Bell, who vanished after walking out of her apartment in May 2003 and never came home. The verdict brings a measure of closure to a case that was pulled out of the cold files after human remains were discovered years later at a Montgomery development site. In the Kane County courtroom, Bell’s loved ones wept and hugged as the decision was read.
Jurors reached their verdict after several days of testimony at the Kane County Judicial Center. Cunningham is scheduled to be sentenced July 31 at 1:30 p.m., according to FOX 32 Chicago. Prosecutors walked jurors through the couple’s fraught relationship and the late-night circumstances surrounding Bell’s disappearance, arguing the killing grew out of conflict over money and support.
Bell was last seen on May 9, 2003, when she left the Aurora apartment she shared with her sister, authorities said. She left behind her identification and a burning candle. In December 2020, a surveyor found a skull on property being developed in Montgomery, and forensic testing later confirmed the remains were Bell’s, according to the Daily Herald.
Prosecutors presented a child-support motive
Prosecutors told jurors they believe Cunningham killed Bell to stop her from pursuing child-support enforcement, and witnesses testified that Bell expected a sizable cash payment on the night she disappeared, according to FOX 32 Chicago. The state also relied on an appeals court ruling that let jurors hear statements Bell made to friends and relatives before she went missing, a decision detailed in the Illinois Appellate Court opinion. Defense attorneys countered that early investigative missteps left key leads unexplored and urged jurors to scrutinize the evidence.
How the case reopened
The case sat unsolved for years until human remains and personal items were uncovered on a Kane County property. An autopsy determined Bell died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head, officials said. That discovery prompted detectives to reexamine the 2003 disappearance and ultimately bring the charges that led to this week’s trial outcome, according to the Kane County State’s Attorney's Office.
What Cunningham faces next
Cunningham was indicted in 2022 on two counts of first-degree murder, according to local reporting. Under Illinois law, a first-degree murder conviction typically carries a prison sentence of 20 to 60 years, and certain aggravating factors can push that penalty up to natural life, per the Illinois General Assembly.
