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Illinois Valley

Sheridan homicide suspect indicted on new charges

Martin to face arson, robbery counts at Nov. 14 hearing

Ronald Martin Jr. is escorted into a courtroom on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, at the La Salle County Government Complex in Ottawa. Martin is the  suspect in the July 17 shooting in rural Sheridan.

Authorities found two bodies in a July 17 residential fire in rural Sheridan. Ronald Martin Jr., already charged with firing the shots that killed them, now is accused of robbing them and setting the fire, too.

A La Salle County grand jury convened Tuesday and indicted Martin, 45, of Sheridan on new charges of armed robbery, residential arson and possession of a weapon. Armed robbery, the most serious of the three, is a Class X felony carrying six to 30 years.

Martin will be presented with his new charges when he next appears Nov. 14 in La Salle County Circuit Court. The controlling charge remains first-degree murder for the shooting deaths of Sidney Schiltz and Melissa Vissman, whose bodies were recovered in the July 17 fire.

If convicted of murdering both, Martin is headed to prison for the rest of his life. Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011, but killing two or more people is punishable by automatic natural life.

Martin is being held in La Salle County Jail, having been denied a bid for pre-trial release at his last court appearance on Sept. 24. He could get new trial dates at his next court appearance.

According to court records, eyewitnesses said Martin entered the rural Sheridan residence and fired a 9mm pistol at both victims.

Tom Collins

Tom Collins

Tom Collins covers criminal justice in La Salle County.