CLAY COUNTY — A 29-year-old Centralia man has pleaded guilty to lesser charges in connection with the 2021 murder of an elderly Edgewood man as he and two others robbed his home.

Christopher Gallatin pleaded guilty Monday in Clay County Court to Class 1 residential burglary and Class 3 aggravated battery. Gallatin is a co-defendant for the First-Degree Murder of 80-year-old Roger Courson in his Edgewood home in 2021.

Walter West, of Edgewood, admitted to strangling Courson while Gallatin and Jamie Charlton robbed the home. West pleaded guilty to First-Degree Murder on February 10, 2023 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Charlton, of Salem, pleaded guilty in May of last year to the Class 1 felony charge of residential burglary in exchange for two First-Degree murder charges being dismissed. He was subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison.

A Sentencing Hearing for Gallatin is scheduled for April 19, in front of Judge Joshua Morrison. Gallatin is extended-term eligible in both cases and is facing up to 40 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.