Man sentenced to 75 years for 2023 rural Bloomington homicide
BLOOMINGTON (25News Now) - A convicted killer was sentenced in McLean County Thursday to 75 years in prison for a shooting in February of last year that claimed the life of a 20-year-old man.
Desmond Sterling, 23, was found guilty earlier this year of first-degree murder for the death of Kiejoun Watts, who was shot in the back of the head at close range. His body was found outside Victory Church on U.S. Route 150 in rural Bloomington.
During the sentencing hearing, Watts’s mother, Talaina Matthews, confronted her son’s killer with his ashes in an urn sitting next to her.
“February 20, 2023, is the ending of life how I knew it and the beginning of the worst days that will follow,” Matthews said.
Matthews continued, looking at Sterling in the eyes, “You killed me, his brothers, his sisters, his friends, and his family members. Because of you, every single day, I have to die over and over and over again.”
Authorities believe Watts’s was trying to buy a gun from Sterling before he was murdered.
The prosecution republished evidence shown in the trial that included multiple pictures and videos of Sterling in possession of several handguns and semi-automatic weapons.
Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Young then called Lead Detective Bryan Hanner to the witness stand. He testified about a TikTok video showing Sterling and his friends mocking Watts’s mother in previous news stories mourning Kiejoun’s death.
The pre-sentence investigation report uncovered that Sterling not only had a prior criminal history outside of prison, but he also broke over a dozen jail rules since being arrested. Including entering a jail cell and fighting another inmate, later saying he was ‘just doing business.’
“The defendant’s criminal behavior has only escalated. His first felony offense was committed at the age of 21 in November of 2022, and less than three months later, at age 22, the defendant hit the peak of his criminal career on February 20, 2023, when he executed Kiejoun Watts,” Young said.
McLean County Judge William Yoder, who convicted Sterling in a bench trial that ended March 1, had sentencing range options of between 45-and-95 years.
Yoder said he took into account Sterling’s age, mental health, and difficult upbringing, but called him a serious threat in any type of environment before handing down a sentence that would keep the 23-year-old in jail for the rest of his life.
The victim’s mother said, “Now I’m Kiejoun’s voice, and I will go above and beyond to use my voice, Kiejoun’s story, and this ongoing battle to end gun violence and to bring awareness to the tragedies that firearms in the hands of individuals like you cause,” Talaina Matthews said. “Kiejoun did not deserve the death sentence you gave him, but you do deserve the sentence to be kept in prison until your last breath.”
In a statement, McLean County State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds said she’s pleased with the sentence “as it ensures someone as dangerous as Sterling will spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
“While we can never bring the victim back, we are hoping that the sentence provides some peace to the victim’s family and friends,” Reynolds said.
Sterling can appeal his conviction and sentence.
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