MORRISON, Ill — The Rock Falls man found guilty of murder and arson in a 2020 Sterling apartment fire will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Steven Coleman was previously convicted of setting a 2020 Sterling apartment fire that killed three people and injured multiple others. He received three consecutive lifetime sentences with no possibility of parole. Those sentences stem from three first-degree murder counts. He also received three 30-year sentences and another 15 years for arson charges, along with numerous fines.
Coleman never appeared in court on Thursday. Those who knew the victims gave impact statements prior to his sentencing.
On July 19, a Whiteside County jury found Coleman guilty of three counts of murder, three counts of aggravated arson and one count of residential arson. Coleman was also found not guilty of three counts of murder with a strong probability to kill or injure.
Prosecutors argued that Coleman purposefully set the fire following a drug deal gone wrong. Coleman used an accelerator to start the fire after asking his brother for a ride to the Western Apartment Complex in Sterling on June 1, 2020.
“For the life of me, I cannot think of what other result would be expected when you show up at an apartment complex, dump an accelerant out and light it on fire. What else do you expect to happen?” Whiteside County Assistant State's Attorney Ryan Simon said during the trial.
A 49-year-old woman and two girls, aged 8 and 13, died in the fire. Alma Walker, who was severely burned in the fire and lost both her daughter and her niece, said the verdict provided some bittersweet relief.
"I would have hoped that I would have seen more remorse out of him, but I didn't see any of that. So to finally hear that guilty verdict, at least I know something is coming that's gonna give us some justice, but it's not going to give us what we all deserve, which is those victims back," Walker said.
A 12-year-old child and a Dixon firefighter and paramedic were also injured in the fire.
News 8 will have the additional information from Coleman's sentencing today during our evening newscasts. Updates will also be added to this news story.