The shooting happened Jan. 5, 2009, on Interstate 55 just west of Normal Community High School. Police were hunting for a serial bank robber, and Sylvester allegedly robbed a payday loan shop that day in Bloomington. They had their man. After a multiagency high-speed chase, police confronted Sylvester on I-55. His realistic-looking gun, it turns out, wasn’t real.
The Illinois State Police trooper who fired the fatal shot was cleared in the shooting.