Dexter Leonard Thomas has been convicted of Aggravated Battery and Kidnapping for crimes committed in 2020. The defendant was also found to be a Prison Releasee Re-Offender as the kidnapping was committed within three years after the defendant was released from prison. The jury returned the guilty verdict and the special findings, following a two-day trial in Lee County.
Assistant State Attorney Erin Hughes, Assistant Circuit Court Chief, and Assistant State Attorney Stephanie Russell, Circuit Court Chief, prosecuted the case.
The case started on May 24, 2020, when the Fort Myers Police Department received a 911 call about an incident at a motel. Officers responded and found the defendant standing in the hallway of the second floor of the motel holding an infant. A woman was laying on the floor, with blood around her, in a nearby motel room. The victim had been attacked by the defendant and held against her will when she said she wanted to leave him, which led to his arrest.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 27, 2025.
The defendant is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2023 of First Degree Premediated Murder, First Degree Burglary with Assault or Battery with a Firearm, and Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Burglary, for a deadly home invasion robbery in Lee County.
Samantha Syoen – State Attorney’s Office Communications Director