Life sentence for teenager who killed 15-year-old girl during Florida carjacking

Thomas Stein, who shot dead a 15-year-old girl during an attempted car robbery in Cape Coral, Florida, in March 2024, has been sentenced to life in prison.

Life sentence for teenager who killed 15-year-old girl during Florida carjacking

A court in Florida has handed down a life sentence to Thomas Stein for the murder of 15-year-old Kayla Rincon-Miller in March 2024, Origo reported. The 18-year-old was sentenced on Friday.

According to prosecutors, Stein and his accomplice, Christopher Horne Jr., were looking for vehicles to break into in Cape Coral when they targeted an SUV. Inside were the 15-year-old victim and two friends, who were driving from a cinema toward a McDonald's in a rented car. The two assailants passed them twice, flashed their lights, then pulled the vehicle over intending to rob the occupants. During the hold-up, a gun fired at close range, fatally wounding Rincon-Miller. The pair fled while the girl's friends tried to save her life. The teenager later died in hospital.

Stein received life imprisonment for murder plus three consecutive 15-year terms for three counts of attempted armed robbery. Horne Jr. had already been sentenced to 25 years in May after agreeing to testify against Stein as part of a plea deal.

Before the sentence was read, Stein asked the judge if he could hug his family before being led out of the courtroom. The judge refused, permitting only a verbal farewell and ruling out any physical contact. Stein then said goodbye to his relatives in words.

Throughout the trial Stein maintained that although he was present, he did not fire the fatal shot. When the verdict was delivered, however, he admitted he had made a grave mistake and expressed daily regret and shame over his selfish decision to get behind the wheel that day.

Source: Google News HU — Crime (hu)