Madeline Soto update: Will the media, public be banned from Stephan Sterns' pretrial court hearings?
A court hearing is scheduled for Thursday to discuss a motion filed by a public defender representing Stephan Sterns, requesting that all pre-trial proceedings in his sexual battery case be closed. A similar motion has also been filed in Sterns' separate homicide case.
The defense plans to pursue several motions, including requests to suppress evidence and testimony, such as Sterns' statements to the police and evidence related to minor children. They may also seek a change of venue due to extensive media coverage.
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. - Stephan Sterns, the Central Florida man accused of raping and murdering his girlfriend's daughter,13-year-old Madeline Soto, is due in court on Thursday morning.
The hearing will be held to discuss Sterns' motion to ban the public and members of the press from attending his pre-trial court hearings, specifically related to his sexual battery case.
The motion, obtained through court documentation, states that the spread of information presented in the hearings would prevent Sterns from receiving a fair trial.
FOX 35 News will stream the hearing live in the video player at the top of this page.
According to official court documents, the motion was filed by a public defender representing Sterns on Feb. 19. The motion requests that all pre-trial proceedings be closed in his sexual battery case. A similar motion was also filed in Sterns' separate homicide case.
Sterns' defense attorneys plans to pursue several motions, including requests to suppress evidence and testimony, such as Sterns' statements to the police and evidence related to minor children. They may also seek a change of venue due to extensive media coverage.
What they're saying
"This case has been the subject of unprecedented and highly prejudicial publicity and media attention in Osceola County, adjacent areas of Osceola County, a majority of the state of Florida, outside the state of Florida and even internationally," the motion states. "At every court proceeding, however minor or inconsequential, there has been extensive coverage by the press as well as social media users on YouTube, TikTok, Twitter (now called X) and Facebook. It is anticipated that the press will continue to be active and aggressive in the coverage of all events and proceedings in this case."
What's next
Sterns' sexual battery trial is scheduled to begin on May 5. His murder trial is slated for Sept. 22.
The backstory
Sterns was the live-in boyfriend of Madeline's mother. He is facing a first-degree murder charge in the teen's death.
An indictment said Sterns allegedly killed Madeline between Feb. 25 and Feb. 27, 2024.
Officials originally said Madeline was last seen by Sterns after he allegedly dropped her off a few blocks from her school.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina later announced that Madeline was never dropped off at school and was dead before the school bell rang that day.
Sterns allegedly moved her body in the morning hours of that day after killing her in Kissimmee, investigators said.
The case was ultimately turned over to the Kissimmee Police Department.
The backstory
Madeline was a student at Hunter's Creek Middle School in Orlando.
She was reported missing on Feb. 26, 2024, after her mother, Jennifer Soto, went to pick her up from school and was told that her daughter was not in class that day.
Her body was found days later on March 1, 2024, off Old Hickory Tree Road in rural Osceola County.
Madeline was found dead in the area where Sterns was last seen possibly changing a flat tire, wearing clothing similar to what she was last seen in.
Prior to her murder, Madeline had recently turned 13 and celebrated her birthday the day before she disappeared.
STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 35 ORLANDO:
Download the FOX Local app for breaking news alerts, the latest news headlines
Download the FOX 35 Storm Team Weather app for weather alerts & radar
Sign up for FOX 35's daily newsletter for the latest morning headlines
FOX Local:Stream FOX 35 newscasts, FOX 35 News+, Central Florida Eats on your smart TV
The Source
This story was written based on previous reporting, as well as information gathered from Osceola County court records.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
3 hours ago
A Michigan autoworker's wallet is found under a hood in Minnesota — 151,000 miles later
PETERSBURG, Mich. -- A retired Michigan autoworker looked at a Facebook message after midnight from a stranger: Did you lose your wallet years ago? 'If so,' a Minnesota man wrote, 'it was in the engine bay of a car.' Richard Guilford couldn't believe what he was reading on his phone — a decade-old mystery was remarkably solved. Guilford's tri-fold leather wallet — stuffed with $15, a driver's license, work ID, gift cards worth $275 and lottery tickets — had turned up under the hood of a car in a repair shop in Lake Crystal, Minnesota. A Christmas gift from Guilford's sons was suddenly a family treasure again. 'Big Red,' as he was affectionately known at Ford Motor, was in awe. 'It restores your faith in humanity that people will say, 'Hey, you lost this, I found this, I'm going to get it back to you'," Guilford said Thursday. The wallet was discovered in June by mechanic Chad Volk, sandwiched between the transmission and the air filter box of a 2015 Ford Edge with 151,000 miles on it. 'Crazy,' Volk said. The filter box wouldn't snap in place after a repair, he said, 'so I messed around a little bit and then pulled it back out and the wallet was sitting on a little ledge where it needed to snap down. I pulled the wallet out and that's what it was.' Turn back the calendar to 2014, around Christmas. Guilford was working on the same car at a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan. It was in a long line of new vehicles assembled elsewhere that needed extra electrical work before being shipped to dealers. Guilford realized later that his wallet had fallen out of his shirt pocket. He was certain he had lost it in a car, but figured it was on the floor of a Ford Flex, not an Edge, and certainly not in the engine. Guilford said he searched 30 to 40 cars, and his co-workers looked at dozens more, 'just opening the doors up, looking under the seats, looking behind it.' 'I can't take too much time to look for this because I gotta work. I'm on the clock," he recalled feeling. "No luck. Life went on.' Guilford, now 56 and living in Petersburg, Michigan, retired from Ford in 2024 after nearly 35 years. He had put the wallet out of his mind long ago, until getting the message in Facebook, where his profile said he had worked at Ford. Volk messaged a photo of the wallet and included the driver's license. 'Big Red' saw a younger version of himself with his red-tinged beard. 'The amazing part to me was it was so protected,' Guilford said of the wallet as he also traced the car's history. 'Think about this: 11 years, rain, snow. It was in Minnesota, for crying out loud. It was in Arizona when it was bought. Think about how hot a transmission gets in Arizona driving down the road. That's incredible.' Cabela's, an outdoor retailer, said the $250 in gift cards remain valid, but it has offered to give him new cards anyway. Guilford doesn't know the status of a $25 card from Outback Steakhouse. The numbers on the lottery tickets faded long ago. 'I'm going to put everything back in it and leave it just like it is, and it's gonna sit at the house in the china cabinet and that's for my kids,' said Guilford, a part-time auctioneer. 'They can tell my great-grandkids about it. We're big into stories. I like tellin' stories. That's just who I am.'
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Mom of 2 shot dead walking her kid to school in Kentucky — police chief slams ‘absolutely pathetic' killers
A young mom of two has been shot dead while walking her child to school in Louisville, Kentucky — sparking a furious tirade from the city's police chief against the 'absolutely pathetic' killers. Redaja Williams, 23, was taking her child to the bus stop at around 8 a.m. Wednesday when she was shot and later died from her injuries in the University of Louisville Health Hospital. Her child wasn't injured in the shooting, the second to take place at the bus stop just west of Downtown Louisville in the span of a week, WDRB reports. 'Kids should be able to go to school – go to the bus stop in the morning – without any fear of gun violence, without any fear of having to run for their life in the morning,' Louisville Metro Police Chief Paul Humphrey fumed during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. 4 Mom of two Redaja Williams, 23, was shot and killed walking her child to school in Louisville, KY on Wednesday morning. Facebook 'It's absolutely unacceptable that these types of incidents have happened now twice in the last week,' he said. 'This is the second time in a week that we're talking about this, and it's absolutely pathetic.' The killer is still at large, Humphrey said. He is described as a young black male wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants, and a security footage grab of the suspect has been released. On Wednesday, police arrested and questioned a 15-year-old boy near Shawnee High School, but it was later determined that he didn't pull the trigger, even though he was at the scene of the shooting, Humphrey said. 4 Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey has branded the killing of a mom outside a school 'absolutely pathetic.' WDRB Several children were at the bus stop at the time of the shooting. 'It is unacceptable that people simply trying to go to school must fear for their safety,' Humphrey said. Homicide rates in Louisville are down in recent years, Humphrey stressed, but added that more still needs to be done. 4 Police released a security footage grab of the suspected killer. LMPD / X 'It's not where it needs to be,' he admitted. Williams leaves behind two kids, ages 2 and 7, her family said. 'My niece was killed yesterday in front of her daughter and her niece and all the other children who was on the bus,' Williams' aunt, Donna Cole, told a press conference on Thursday. 'I'm traumatized. I live in fear. Not that they're going to do anything to me but to another person's child.' 4 Williams leaves behind two kids, ages 2 and 7. Angel Marie / Facebook The shooting came just six days after a gunman opened fire at the same bus stop on Aug. 7, the first day back for Jefferson County Public Schools. A 15-year-old is facing 34 charges including wanton endangerment and possession of a handgun by a minor, WDRB reported. Louisville Mayor, Democrat Craig Greenberg, also voiced frustration over the shooting as he appeared alongside Chief Humphrey at Wednesday's press conference. 'My final emotion that I've had all day is I'm angry. I'm angry at the individual who killed this woman [on Wednesday],' he said. 'I'm angry at the two people who shot at the same bus stop last week. I'm angry that people still do this in 2025 in our city.'
USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Michigan football NCAA sign-stealing findings and penalties to be announced Friday
After almost two years of tit for tat, conjecture, media attention, and fanbases fighting about what exactly it all means, the alleged Connor Stalions Michigan advanced sign-stealing investigation is coming to a close. According to a report from Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel of ESPN, the findings and any potential penalties (hint: there will be something) will be announced Friday. Further on that, The Detroit News' Angelique Chengelis reports the punishments will be released by noon, while NBC's Nicole Auerbach, reports that Michigan will receive the notice of penalties before the public earlier that morning. It's hard to fathom that something won't come from this. The NCAA has charged the Michigan program with 11 NCAA violations, six of those being the most severe Level 1 infractions. That is in combination with recruiting violations and prior suspensions for former head coach Jim Harbaugh, so repeat offender and failure to monitor would figure to be a part of whatever penalties are handed down. What is indeed a part of the penalty remains to be seen. The language used by the NCAA has at least been very severe, and some of the reporting of the initial draft of the Notice of Allegations has also pointed toward the NCAA looking to impose some pretty significant things. Michigan took things all the way to a hearing in front of the Committee on Infractions, so all of that points to something somewhat significant being talked about. But where things landed after the hearing remain to be seen. What could be in play is at least a suspension and perhaps a show-cause penalty for Sherrone Moore because of his role on staff and the deletion of 52 text messages between he and Stalions when news of the alleged improprieties broke. Michigan has tried to get out in front of that by self-imposing a two-game suspension for Moore this upcoming season, but it is unclear what that will do to soften the blow from the NCAA. You can likely also expect further show-cause penalties for former head coach Jim Harbaugh, who is already in the midst of a four-year one for the earlier findings of impermissible contact with recruits. You can bet that the news cycle will be hot and heavy tomorrow morning and early afternoon, and we'll also be here to react to it. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
