Man given 21 life sentences in death of Madeline Soto

A Florida man was given 21 life sentences Monday after pleading no contest to murder and guilty to other counts in the sexual abuse and death of 13-year-old Madeline Soto.

Stephan Sterns, who had been the boyfriend of Madeline’s mother, entered the pleas in a Kissimmee court as part of a deal that prosecutors said was reached in close coordination with the girl’s family.

Sterns, 39, was sentenced to 21 life sentences, which will run concurrently, or at the same time.

“Because of the actions of this depraved man, I will never meet the woman she was becoming,” Madeline’s father, Tyler Wallace, who said he wanted to be more of a part of her life, told the court. “And I can’t — I can’t grasp it.”

Madeline’s body was found in a wooded area in Osceola County on March 1, 2024, four days after her mother reported her daughter missing.

Sterns was first arrested on counts of sexual battery, lewd or lascivious molestation and unlawful possession of materials depicting sexual performance by a child after investigators searched his phone, officials said.

He was later indicted by a grand jury on a count of first-degree murder in her death.

Madeline’s mother reported her missing after Sterns was to have dropped her off that morning at Hunter’s Creek Middle School in Orlando, where she attended, according to court records. But when the mother went to pick her up after the school day, she learned her daughter had never arrived.

Sterns on Monday pleaded no contest to first-degree premeditated murder, which means he did not admit guilt.

He pleaded guilty to eight counts of capital sexual battery of someone under the age of 12; five counts of sexual battery of someone between the ages of 12 and 18; and seven counts of lewd or lascivious molestation.

State Attorney Monique Worrell said the plea deal means Sterns waived any right to appeal. She said Madeline’s “life was stolen in a senseless act of violence.”

“The individual responsible has been sentenced to 21 concurrent life sentences and will never walk free again. He has also waived all of his rights to appeal, ensuring finality and sparing the family from reliving this trauma in courtrooms for years to come,” Worrell said in a statement.

Sterns said in court after his pleas that “I have prayed to God countless times to trade places with her, to take me instead, and unfortunately that’s just not how He works.”

“I apologize for all the pain,” he said.

Madeline’s maternal grandmother, Yolanda Zambrano, said in a letter read at court by a prosecutor that she felt like a second mother to Madeline and that she has been left with a “broken soul.”

Zambrano said that Sterns betrayed Madeline’s “love, her trust, her innocence, her body.”

“And if that wasn’t enough damage, he took her life,” she said. “And with her, he killed a piece of our souls.”