Judge will decide Desmond Sterling’s fate regarding murder charges at 3 p.m. today

Posted on March 1, 2024
Judge William Yoder decides the fate of Sterling this afternoon inside a McLean County courtroom. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By WMBD

BLOOMINGTON – A McLean County judge said he will rule at 3 p.m. today regarding allegations that Desmond Sterling shot and killed a Bloomington man near a church last year.

Circuit Judge William Yoder said that after closing arguments Friday morning in the weeklong bench trial.

Sterling, 23, faces murder charges for the Feb. 20, 2023, shooting of Kiejoun Watts. If convicted he faces decades behind bars.

A bench trial means there will be no jury to hear the case and only the judge will decide Sterling’s guilt or innocence. Police arrested Sterling in June after Watts’ body was found behind Victory Church in rural Bloomington.

Sterling did not testify during the trial, which is his right, and both sides wrapped up their cases by Friday morning, which lead to closing arguments.

Earlier in the trial, a detective with the McClean County Sheriff’s Office testified that Watts and another man were trying to buy a gun from Sterling. The two were supposed to meet at a gas station on Main Street in Bloomington on Feb. 20.

Victory Church is about seven miles away from the gas station. Surveillance footage and data from Watts’ Apple Watch put the two men at the gas station at about 8:24 p.m.

A day or so later, Sterling allegedly had a Facetime call with the relative of Watts’ girlfriend where he told him the killing was personal and that it was quick.

This story will be updated.

WMBD can be reached at [email protected].

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