Illinois, USA: Teen dressed as clown charged over alleged stabbing murder of John Wesley Allen Sr.

A teenager who dressed up as a clown to taunt a neighbourhood has been arrested in relation to the alleged murder of a pensioner.

John Wesley Allen Senior’s body was found at the intersection of North 76th Street and State Street in East St Louis, Illinois, on the evening of August 3.

He was pronounced dead around 11.30pm local time and identified the following night.

The 78-year-old died from multiple stab wounds, the coroner said.

On August 4, a 15-year-old was taken into custody in relation to Mr Allen’s death.

The teenager’s arrest came after Illinois State Police

The teen was captured on doorbell cameras in the neighbourhood taunting residents dressed as a clown before Mr Allen’s death.

One video shared on social media showed a person dressed as a clown approaching the front door at 9.11pm on August 3 before issuing a chilling message.

“I’ve been looking for you all night,” the clown said.

He then chuckled as he walked down the steps from the porch.

The person who posted the video, Lee Palmer, told First Alert 4 it was his mum’s house where it was captured.

He added that the clown lingered on the property for several minutes before leaving.

“I couldn’t believe it. He was dressed in the clown outfit,” Mr Palmer said.

“That was kind of spooky for her.”

He then said his main concern was that the person dressed as the clown was armed and dangerous.

“He’s going to kill everybody in the house,” he said.

“Why out of all the houses, why come to this house?”

Mr Palmer said he would urge everyone to install home security cameras.

The Illinois State Police said they were aware of “video footage of the suspect dressed in a clown costume” and they were “working to collect all relevant video”.

The details of Mr Allen’s alleged murder are under investigation and have not yet been revealed.