Testimony and tears flowed as one of two girls who accompanied 15-year-old Kayla Rincon-Miller two years ago when she died during an attempted robbery took the witness stand.
The teen’s testimony nearly resulted in a mistrial.
The second day in the murder trial against Thomas Stein included his biological mother and two attempted robbery victims.
Stein, 18, faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery in the March 2024 death of 15-year-old Kayla Rincon-Miller. His trial, which began April 27 with jury selection and will continue Friday, May 1.
Comments made by one of Rincon-Miller’s friends naming Stein as both the driver and the shooter led the defense to call for a mistrial.
Emma Wright, 19, on April 30 testified that she knew Rincon-Miller through a mutual friend, 18-year-old Louann Dejait. Wright had met Rincon-Miller twice, the last time the day of the slaying.
Wright said their March 17, 2024, plan was to see a movie, eat dinner and find their ways home. She said they were tight on money that night, with Dejait saying Rincon-Miller snuck into the theater.
After the movie, Wright and Dejait were walking with Rincon-Miller along a backroad parallel to Del Prado Boulevard. An SUV blinded them with its headlights and armed men demanded they hand over their belongings.
A scuffle ensued before witnesses said they heard at least three gunshots. Authorities said surveillance footage showed one shot was fired.
Witnesses remain adamant that they faced more than two attackers, but authorities said they have only been able to connect two teens.
‘Too many things going on’
Wright said the girls were singing and recording videos as they walked from the cinema.
As they continued, “kids” drove past in an SUV and were “staring” at them. Wright said she made eye contact with the driver, later identified as Stein.
Wright said the SUV came from behind, made a U-turn and drove toward them.
When the SUV stopped, Wright said, she saw several men exit the car and attack them.
“Too many things going on at the same time,” she said.
Wright added that she initially thought it was a “prank” from a friend of theirs.
According to Wright, a Black boy attacked her with a gun.
“He was telling me that he was going to shoot me,” Wright said.
Wright said that after the gunshots she dropped to the ground and thought she was shot herself.
According to Wright, Stein, was the only person with Rincon-Miller. She said the men got quickly got back into the SUV within seconds. and she heard Horne ask Stein why he fired.
Rincon-Miller was on the ground bleeding. Dejait called 911 while Rincon-Miller was awake.
When defense attorney David Wheeler inquired, Wright said three people exited the SUV, including Stein.
At the time of the shooting, Wright said, she thought there was fourth person. She said she only remembered Stein and convicted accomplice Christopher Horne, 18, of Cape Coral. Horne pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in exchange for his testimony against Stein.
She said two of the men wore face coverings and that Stein did not.
Wright said she does not know who pulled the trigger, but added that everyone, including Stein, had a firearm and that Horne did not fire.
According to Wright, Stein went straight for Rincon-Miller.
Wright’s comment about Stein being the shooter led to an argument between the attorneys during a short break.
Wheeler argued Wright did not know who the shooter was and that her testimony differed from a statement she gave to the attorneys prior to trial. Wheeler asked for a mistrial.
“The defense has been ambushed with this changing testimony,” Wheeler said.
Assistant State Attorney Alyssa Wolf, who is prosecuting the case along with Assistant State Attorney Sara Miller, said they did not ask Wright to identify Stein.
Wolf argued Wright did not say “anything inconsistent.”
According to Wolf, Wright said the driver was the shooter, not that Stein was the shooter. But Wheeler argued that was not said during depositions.
While Lee Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson was not present in the courtroom, Miller asked Wheeler if Montoya had the exact quote in question.
Miller said the state’s argument is that they identified Stein as the shooter through “circumstantial evidence.”
When Thompson returned to courtroom, Wheeler argued that before the fourth day of trial, Wright never said the driver was the shooter.
“I think it’s pretty plain they’re trying to say Thomas Stein was the shooter,” Wheeler argued.
Wolf said the state heard today for the first time Wright testify that Stein was the shooter.
“This case has always been a circumstantial case,” Wolf said.
Thompson accepted the state’s position and denied the motion for a mistrial.
‘In the dark and clueless’
Dejait said she has known Rincon-Miller since elementary school and both have since been friends.
According to Dejait, she made plans to go to the movies with four friends that fateful March 17, 2024, during the first spring break weekend.
Dejait’s brother drove Dejait and Wright to the movie theater
“Kayla got later but didn’t miss much of the movie,” Dejait said. Rincon-Miller snuck into the movies and met Dejait near the restroom.
After the movie ended, they were walking side by side down the street laughing, “talking about random things” and singing.
Dejait said they took photos on Rincon-Miller’s phone.
“I knew it was a picture she could’ve posted the next day,” Dejait said.
Dejait cried and gasped as she spoke, leading Thompson to indicate there were tissues near her.
As they walked, Dejait said similar to Wright, they saw an SUV slow down from about 25 mph to 5 mph as it passed them.
Dejait said that when they made contact they noticed the driver was blonde with blue eyes.
Similar to Wright, Dejait said she saw other “shadows” inside the car.
Someone was leaning from the backseat, Dejait said, before the car abruptly stopped blinding the girls with its bright lights.
Dejait said that similar to Wright she thought it was a prank before someone shouted for the girls to give the men their money.
“At that point I was just scared and I just wanted to say anything to deflect the situation,” Dejait said.
She added that she screamed they did not have anything.
“This happened quicker than I could process,” Dejait said.
According to Dejait, Horne never approached but only held her at gunpoint from a distance.
She said she heard more than one gunshot.
“I was still frozen,” Dejait said.
Wright told her Rincon-Miller was shot.
“Kayla let herself down on the ground and lay down,” Dejait said. “I was really confused at first, and I didn’t want to believe it.”
According to Dejait, Rincon-Miller was panicking. Dejait said she tried to call 911, but her hands were shaking “real bad.”
Dejait said she then unlocked Rincon-Miller’s cellphone to call the teen’s sister and grandmother.
“All I could think about was my friend in the ambulance,” Dejait said. She found out the next morning Rincon-Miller died at the hospital.
“When they ran off it was just silent,” Dejait said.
Mom of accused teen sobs on the stand
Jessica Stein, Thomas Stein’s mother, was among the witnessed who testified during the fourth day of trial.
She cried, appeared distraught and made little eye contact with her son as she testified.
Jessica Stein said Thomas is one of eight siblings and added that five of them were living with her at the time of Rincon-Miller’s slaying.
The day of the shooting, Jessica Stein said, the family went to beach in Venice with Jayden Fernandez, 19, a friend of Thomas who was questioned about the slaying. Fernandez testified that his sister knew Rincon-Miller.
Jessica Stein testified that she drove a rental Nissan Pathfinder SUV to the beach, where the family and company spent most of the day. She said each of her children had their own cellphone.
After the family returned from the beach, Jessica Stein said, Horne arrived at their home.
Jessica Stein, who provided short answers to the attorneys’ questions, said she saw Horne “a few times” prior to Rincon-Miller’s killing.
Horne left the Steins’ home late that night. Jessica Stein said she drove the convicted accomplice to a Cape Coral home after a requested rideshare driver never arrived.
Jessica Stein said she returned the rental the morning after the slaying. At the time she received the Pathfinder, Hertz did not have a larger SUV available to accommodate her request.
After she returned the rental, Jessica Stein said, she learned Thomas was a murder suspect.
Handgun never found
Jessica Stein said she purchased two firearms in 2021. One of the is believed connected to the slaying, but authorities have not recovered it.
Authorities linked the weapon to Jessica Stein through a serial number extracted from a social media post.
Jessica Stein said her son never confessed to the slaying.
Accomplice’s family makes threats
Jessica Stein said Horne’s parents and aunt threatened her after Thomas Stein’s arrest.
According to Jessica Stein, Miller dropped the charges in that case. Each of Horne’s three relatives faced tampering charges.
After the shooting, Jessica Stein said, the Horne family went to the Steins’ home and told Jessica Stein to go to an undisclosed park.
At the time of the informal meetup, authorities had not made any arrests.
Jessica Stein said Horne’s father instructed her on “how to get rid of evidence,” but added she did not follow through.
Horne’s family offered to pay legal fees, according to Jessica Stein.
How did SW Florida authorities connect the teens to the murder?
Cape Coral Police arrested the younger Horne weeks after they arrested Stein in Rincon-Miller’s March 17, 2024, death.
A grand jury indicted each suspect on one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted robbery, both including the use of a firearm.
A detailed Cape Coral Police report indicated Stein was not the shooter and says a third suspect accompanied Horne and Stein.
Prosecutors say they expect four more witnesses will testify May 1 before they rest their case. The defense has said they will not call any witnesses to the stand.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@usatodayco.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Bluesky @tomasfrodriguez.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Mom of accused teen, friends of Kayla Rincon-Miller testify at trial
Reporting by Tomas Rodriguez, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
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