PONTOON BEACH, Ill. — The man who shot and killed a Pontoon Beach police officer in 2021 will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Scott Hyden, 31, was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of Officer Tyler Timmins, a press release from State's Attorney Thomas Haine said.
Officer Timmins was investigating a possible stolen car at the Speedway gas station along Illinois Route 111 near Interstate 270 on the morning of Oct. 26, 2021. While investigating the car, Hyden started shooting at Timmins, leaving Timmins with life-threatening injuries at the scene.
A fellow officer rushed Timmins to Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City. From there, he was airlifted to Saint Louis University Hospital in south St. Louis, where he was later pronounced dead.
Officer Timmins was 36 years old. He had been an officer in Madison County for 14 years, serving in police departments in Roxana, Worden and Hartford. He joined the Pontoon Beach Police Department in April 2020.
In court on Wednesday, Tyler Timmins' wife Officer Linsey Timmins gave an impact statement.
“Justice for my husband was served today from this senseless act of violence,” Linsey Timmins said. “The outcome of the court hearing does not change what Hyden took from my family and me, but we are grateful that Hyden will never be able to harm another person for the rest of his life.”
In Illinois, first-degree murder has a sentencing range of 20-60 years in prison, but because the victim was a police officer, the mandatory sentence was life in prison according to the press release.
