Arsonist convicted of fatal 2020 Sterling fire says sentences are excessive, files motion for reconsideration

MORRISON – A Rock Falls man sentenced last week to the maximum three life sentences and another 105 years in prison for setting a fatal Sterling apartment fire four years ago is asking to have his sentence reconsidered.

In a motion to reconsider his sentence, filed Tuesday in Whiteside County Circuit Court, Steven W. Coleman, 45, is arguing that the court did not take into consideration each and every factor in mitigation when determining the sentence, that the court placed insufficient weight on the factors in mitigation and that the sentences imposed were excess in light of the spirit and purpose of the law. A hearing is set for 1 p.m. Nov. 18 in Whiteside County Circuit Court.

Coleman was sentenced Oct. 17 for the June 1, 2020, arson-related deaths of Celina Serrano, 13; Shyla Walker, 8, of Davenport, Iowa; and neighbor Carrie A. (Hall) Hose, 49, at the Western Apartments in Sterling. Whiteside County Judge Trish Senneff ordered Coleman to serve three natural life sentences for first-degree murder, one for each victim. Those sentences are to be served back to back and he will not be eligible for parole.

He also was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with a mandatory 85% to be served, for three counts of aggravated arson in regard to severe injuries suffered by two residents and a Dixon firefighter at the scene. On the final count, a residential arson charge, he is to serve 15 years in prison.

A jury convicted Coleman in July after hearing testimony that he had set the fire to get back at a drug dealer who had sold him fake cocaine the day before the fire. Witnesses had testified he had gotten a ride to the Western Apartments, a two-building complex at 908 W. Third St., the early morning of June 1, 2020; investigators said he then set two fires in the entryway of the eight-unit building. Celina, Shyla and Hose died at the scene. Nine others were injured.

Coleman is represented by assistant Whiteside County public defender Dana McCormick.