EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – An Alton man was found guilty Wednesday for a case regarding two homes being struck by gunfire last year.

After two day into the trial, the jury found 32-year-old Rondell Sanders guilty for two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and one count of obstructing justice.

On May 22, 2024, Sanders was in an argument with another individual at their residence on Belle Street in Alton. According to officials, shots were fired from a vehicle, striking the individual’s home and the neighboring house.

Bullets nearly struck a 3-year-old girl in one of the homes, officials added. There were no injuries from the incident.

“On that night…their safe space was shattered. This defendant decided to turn their home, their safe space, into a war zone,” Assistant State’s Attorney Morgan Hudson said.

While police were collecting evidence on the road, Sanders dismissed the police barricades and drove through the crime scene. Police eventually caught up with him, and Sanders was arrested. A release said prosecutors alleged that Sanders had returned with a reloaded weapon “to finish the job.”

“This conviction sends a clear message: Reckless violence has no place in our community,” Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine said. “Firing shots at a home is an intolerable act of violence. We’ve seen how conduct such as this can have results that are terribly tragic.”

Sanders will be sentenced at a later time. According to the courts, aggravated discharge of a firearm is punishable for up to 15 years in prison.