Credit: Court TV
Judge Denies 18-Year-Old Killer’s Request For ‘One Thing’ As He’s Sent Behind Bars For Shooting Teenage Girl
A judge has denied one request from an 18-year-old sent to jail for murdering a teenage girl.
Thomas Stein has been sentenced to life behind bars for shooting and killing 15-year-old Kayla Rincon-Miller back in March 2024.
A robbery gone wrong
Stein was just 16 when he and his friend Christopher Horne Jr went out in search of victims to steal from in Cape Coral, Florida, along with several others.
The group were driving around in an SUV that Stein’s mother had rented, when they came across Rincon Miller and her two friends, who had just been to see Bob Marley: One Love at a local movie theater.
At around 9.30pm, the trio were heading to McDonald’s on foot, when Stein and Horne drove past them, before turning back towards them.
The group of boys flashed the SUV’s bright headlights into the girls’ faces, temporarily blinding them, before at least two of them jumped out the car armed with handguns.
The teens are said to have demanded the girls handover their handbags, with the two surviving friends revealing they initially thought they were victim to some kind of prank.
However, violence broke out almost immediately as shots were fired and Rincon-Miller was struck in the chest.
One friend recalled hearing her saying: “I just got shot,” before the attackers fled back into the vehicle without actually stealing any of their belongings.
Rincon-Miller was rushed to hospital for treatment, however she tragically succumbed to her injuries and died two days later, People reports.
Stein and Horne only two identified
In court, the two surviving friends both said there had been multiple people, around three or four, who exited the SUV during the ambush, however Stein and Horne were the only two who were ever caught and arrested.
Prosecutors argued that Stein was the driver using his mother’s vehicle, while Horne was the gunman. Stein admitted to driving but testified that he did not expect a robbery or shooting and claimed he was ‘shocked’ when the gun went off.
However, the surviving friends told the court that all the passengers had been black while the driver was white with a bowl cut and blue eyes. They said the driver ‘went straight for Kayla’.
Meanwhile, Horne had already entered a plea agreement in which he plead no contest to second-degree murder and attempted robbery charges in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence and agreeing to testify truthfully.
There continued to be a dispute over who fired the shot that killed Rincon-Miller, however the jury convicted Stein of first-degree felony murder, as well as three counts of attempted robbery with a firearm.
In Florida, a person who is involved in certain dangerous felonies, such as armed robbery, can also be held responsible for a death that happens during that time, even if someone else pulled the trigger, under the murder felony rule.
Stein’s final request
Last week, Stein was sentenced to life in prison, in addition to three consecutive 15-year sentences for the crimes he’s been convicted of.
It was during this court appearance that the 18-year-old made one final request to the judge.
According to Court TV, he asked Judge Nick Thompson: “If I could just ask you one thing, if before I walk out of the courtroom, if I could give my family a hug, if you’d allow that?”
However, Judge Thompson was unsympathetic, telling him: “I can’t grant that request in here. You can say goodbye, but you can’t have any physical contact.”
Stein spoke to his family before leaving the courtroom and even during his sentencing maintained that he didn’t know a robbery was going to take place and that he was not the one who fired the fatal shots.
“I didn’t know that robbery was going to occur, but it was my reaction in fleeing that ultimately played a major role in assisting the perpetrators,” he said.
“I know that it wasn’t my intentions, but the truth is it doesn’t change the result. It doesn’t change the fact that there was a life taken and innocent people were forever traumatised because of that.
“That day I made a terrible decision. The decision to get behind the wheel was a total act of selfishness and something I regret and I’m ashamed of every day.”
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