State Attorney Amira Fox convened the Lee County Grand Jury and they have returned indictments against 16-year-old Thomas Stein and 16-year-old Christopher Devon Horne, Jr., both for First Degree Murder, for the murder of a 15-year-old girl in Cape Coral. They were also both indicted on three counts of Attempted Robbery – Possession of a Firearm.
Earlier this year, the State Attorney’s Office direct filed the cases against Stein and Horne, which took the cases from juvenile court and into adult court. This allows for adult sanctions in the case.
The maximum penalty they face with the new charges in the indictment is life in prison. Due to being juveniles, they are not eligible for the death penalty.
The victim was killed on the night of March 17, 2024, in Cape Coral. She was walking from a movie theatre with friends, to get something to eat nearby. As they walked along the roadway, an SUV pulled over. It is alleged that the defendants exited the SUV and robbed the victim and her friends. The victim was shot and killed during the robbery.
The indictments against both Stein and Horne read in part: On or about March 17, 2024, in Lee County, Florida, did unlawfully, from a premeditated design to effect the death of a human being, or while engaged in the perpetration of, or in the attempt to perpetrate a robbery with a deadly weapon, to wit: a firearm, kill and murder the victim, a human being, by actually possessing a firearm, and shooting her with a firearm, and during the commission of said offense caused the death of the victim.
The Cape Coral Police Department investigated the crime.
“My heart goes out to the parents and family of the victim in this case. I hope today’s Grand Jury Indictments and the continuing forward movement in this case, provide them some strength after the sudden loss of their child. Thank you to the Lee County Grand Jury for their focus during the presentation of this case. I also want to recognize the diligent and detailed investigative work of the Cape Coral Police Department into the multiple layers of this crime. This was a 15-year-old girl just trying to have fun with her friends. Her hopes and dreams never to be realized, after her life was ended during a robbery,” said State Attorney Fox.
Assistant State Attorneys Sara Miller and Andreas Gardiner, both, of the State Attorney’s Office Homicide Unit, are prosecuting the case.
Samantha Syoen – State Attorney’s Office Communications Director
Thomas Stein Christopher Devon Horne, Jr.