A trial date has been set for Stephan Sterns, the 38-year-old man accused of murdering his girlfriend’s 13-year-old daughter, Madeline Soto.
According to Osceola County Court records, Sterns’ murder trial will begin at 9 a.m. on September 22, 2025. The State Attorney’s Office announced earlier this year that it will be seeking the death penalty against Sterns.
On February 26, 2024, Jennifer Soto (Madeline’s mother) contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Office to report Madeline missing after she failed to show up for school.
During an investigation into Madeline’s disappearance, the Kissimmee Police Department found several “disturbing pictures and videos” on a phone belonging to Jennifer’s boyfriend, Stephan Sterns.
Two days after Madeline was reported missing, KPD officers arrested Sterns on 60 charges that include sexual battery on a child under 12, sexual battery with a child between the ages of 12 to 18 (familial/custodial authority), lewd or lascivious molestation, and unlawful possession of materials depicting sexual performance by a child.
On March 1, 2024, Madeline’s body was found in a wooded area in Osceola County.
Sterns became a suspect in Madeline’s homicide, and he was formally indicted by an Osceola County grand jury on a first-degree murder charge on April 24, 2024.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
On June 9, 2024, the State Attorney’s Office stated that its decision to seek the death penalty in this case “is based on several aggravating factors the State intends to prove.” Those factors include:
- The capital felony being committed while Sterns was allegedly engaged in the commission of, or an attempt to commit, aggravated child abuse.
- The victim being particularly vulnerable because Sterns stood in a position of familial or custodial authority over the victim.
- The capital felony was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.
- Sterns was previously convicted of another capital felony or a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person. (The current sex charges against Sterns will serve as priors if he is convicted.)
Sterns is currently being held at the Osceola Department of Corrections without bond as he awaits trial. He has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge.