An 18-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison on July 10 for the first-degree felony murder and attempted robbery of a 15-year-old girl in March 2024.
The State Attorney’s Office for the 20th Judicial Circuit announced that Thomas Stein fatally shot Kayla Rincon-Miller on March 17, 2024. According to prosecutors, Stein, who was 16 at the time, picked up his friend Christopher Horne Jr. in a car his mother had rented. Stein brought a gun with him, and the two drove through two movie theater parking lots looking for vehicles to burglarize.
Stein and Horne encountered three girls who were leaving a movie theater and walking to get food. Prosecutors stated that Stein drove past the group and flashed the vehicle’s high beams before attempting to rob them. Rincon-Miller was shot in the chest during the encounter.
Stein, who was driving, then fled the scene. Rincon-Miller’s friends attempted lifesaving measures while waiting for emergency responders, but she was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.
Before she died, Rincon-Miller told authorities that she did not know the shooter, and her friends also stated they did not know the individuals in the car. Lisa Greenberg of the Cape Coral Police Department described the shooting as “a random act of violence.” Court records show that Stein had previous felony convictions for breaking into vehicles.
The cases for both Stein and Horne were transferred from juvenile court to adult court, and a grand jury indicted both individuals on charges of first-degree felony murder. Horne later testified against Stein at trial and received a 25-year prison sentence.
During the trial, Stein maintained that he did not pull the trigger.
“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,” Stein 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 traumatized 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.”
In addition to the life sentence for first-degree felony murder, the judge sentenced Stein to 15 years in prison for three counts of attempted robbery with a firearm. The State Attorney’s Office confirmed these sentences will run consecutively.
Louann Dejaie, a friend who was with Rincon-Miller during the shooting, delivered a victim impact statement during the proceedings.
“I feel like I’m trapped in a coma that I can’t wake up from,” Dejaie said. “Like I’m suffocating, but somehow still expected to keep on living. Losing Kayla changed every part of my life.”
Prior to being sentenced, Stein requested permission from the judge to hug his family members before leaving the courtroom. The judge denied the request.
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