Opening arguments to begin in fatal Sterling apartment fire trial

MORRISON — Opening arguments will begin Tuesday in the trial of a Rock Falls man charged with six counts of first-degree murder in connection with a fatal fire at the Western Apartments in Sterling in June 2020.

A 12-member jury composed of eight men and four women seated Monday will decide the fate of Steven W. Coleman, 44. He is accused of setting the June 1, 2020, blaze that killed Celina Serrano, 13; her cousin, Shyla Walker, 8, of Davenport; and neighbor Carrie A. (Hall) Hose, 49.

Celina’s mother, Alma Walker, and her sister, Teleah Serrano, were injured but survived the fire that engulfed one of the apartment complex’s two buildings at 908 W. Third St. Nine other occupants escaped. A firefighter also was injured.

Of the six first-degree murder counts, three state that Coleman is charged with murder while committing a “forcible felony,” which in this case would be aggravated arson. The other three counts of murder accuse him of committing actions he knew had “strong probability” of causing death or great bodily harm to another.

Each of the first-degree murder charges is punishable by 20 to 60 years, or up to life in prison, if he is convicted. Of the four arson-related charges, three carry six to 30 years in prison and one carries four to 15 years. Coleman has been in the Whiteside County jail on $1 million bond since his arrest on June 5, 2020.

Coleman is being represented by Dana McCormick of the Whiteside County Public Defender’s Office. The trial is expected to last five days, Whiteside County Circuit Court Judge Trish Senneff said.

Coleman, who was out on parole at the time of the fire, has a long history of felony convictions in the Sauk Valley dating to the mid-1990s.

In Lee County, he was sentenced to four years in prison after stealing 923 pounds of cut copper and two internally cooled welding wheels, worth $10,000 to $100,000, from SGS Refrigeration in 2016. He also was sentenced to three years for aggravated driving under the influence in 2017. He was paroled on those charges on Oct. 22, 2019, Illinois Department of Corrections records show.

In Whiteside County, he was sentenced to two years for criminal damage to property in a 2017 case; his parole included that sentence as well.

He was also sentenced in Whiteside County to two years for dealing cocaine in 2007, five and a half years for robbery in 2004, two and a half years for aggravated battery and damaging property in 2002; two and a half years for theft and being a felon in possession and use of a firearm in 1999, three years for possession of a controlled substance in 1998, and four years for residential burglary in 1997.

In Carroll County, Coleman was sentenced to two 10-year terms for dealing cocaine, six years for possession of marijuana, and a year for aggravated driving under the influence, all to run concurrently, in 2009.