Accompanied by his girlfriend Debra Brown, Alton Coleman launched his very own crime spree in the summer of 1984. It began with the death of Vernita Wheat, 9, on May 29th. Coleman had convinced Wheat's mother that it was fine to let the girl ride along with him to Waukegan, IL from Kenosha, WI. She was found on June 16 in Waukegan in an abandoned building. The victim's mother easily identified Coleman (he had used an alias) as her daughter's abductor. Coleman had also transported the girl across a state line. The FBI became involved and the hunt for Coleman was on.

In nearby Gary, IN, on June 18, Coleman abducted Tameka Turks, 7, and Annie Hilliard, 9, and proceeded to rape and strangle both little girls. Amazingly Hilliard survived the attack and was able to give police a rough description of Coleman. Turks was not as lucky. Next the killer snatched 25-year-old Donna Williams, also in Gary. She would be found strangled on July 11 and her car became Coleman and his girl's transportation to the city of Detroit. Before the car was even located he had struck again, carjacking a vehicle and stealing another, robbing and beating the owners of the second vehicle which they drove to the Detroit Airport. Coleman proceeded to rape and strangle Virginia Temple and her 10-year-old daughter before leaving for Cincinatti. The two bodies were found in a crawl space in their home.

The violence continued when Coleman killed Tonnie Storey, 15. He then brutally beat Harry and Marlene Waters in their home, killing the 44-year-old woman. They briefly kidnapped one man and beat a minister and his wife in Dayton, OH. Stealing their car and driving to Indianapolis he then stole 77-year-old Eugene Scott's vehicle and killing the elderly man. The couple decided to head back to the Chicago area. They were recognized in Evanston and finally arrested and extradited back to Ohio where both Coleman and Brown recieved two death sentences. It was then Indiana's turn. Both were given death sentences there too. Finally,Illinois would have it's day, sentencing Coleman to death yet again despite his idiotic efforts acting as his own attorney.

5/16/2002-Alton Coleman was executed by lethal injection for the murder of Marlene Walters on April 26, 2002, at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Ohio. Harry Walters attended the execution of his wife's murderer.