FORT MYERS, Fla. (Court TV) — A judge showed no mercy to a tearful teenager convicted of killing a 15-year-old girl, sentencing him to spend the rest of his life behind bars — plus 45 years.
Thomas Stein speaks at his sentencing on July 10, 2026. (Court TV)
Thomas Stein, 18, was convicted of felony murder with a firearm and three counts of attempted murder in the death of Kayla Rincon-Miller, who was shot to death on March 17, 2024. Rincon-Miller had been out at the movies with two friends when they were randomly targeted by Stein and his friend, Christopher Horne.
At his trial, Stein took the stand and conceded that he had been present at the time of Rincon-Miller’s death, but claimed that others in the car had pulled the trigger and that he never had any intention of hurting anyone. Stein testified at his sentencing on Friday, maintaining his plan that night had only been to steal from cars. “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 Friday. “ 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.”…