Judge releases jury pool after commotion between families at murder trial

LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) — The trial for a teenager accused of killing a 15-year-old Cape Coral girl in March 2024 got off to a rocky start. 

• RELATED:Teen accused of involvement in murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller to appear in court

The morning began with jury selection for the five-day trial, but ended with the judge releasing the panel of potential jurors because of 'commotion' in the hallway. 

"The reason the jury panel had to be released was because there was an issue with a commotion happening outside of this courtroom where words were exchanged between both the families," Thompson said. "That is not acceptable and I'm not going to allow that during this trial."

He ultimately decided to let that panel of potential jurors go.

Prosecutors say 18-year-old Thomas Stein is facing life in prison. Stein is accused of killing 15-year-old Kayla Rincon Miller in March 2024.

Cape Coral police say Kayla and her friends were walking to a McDonald's in Cape Coral after a movie when she was shot and killed.

Stein was arrested just days later. A month after Kayla was killed, a second teenager was arrested—Christopher Horne Jr. Horne took a plea deal in September. He pleaded no contest and agreed to testify against Stein.

"There are rules of decorum for court and inside the courthouse as well," Thompson said. "I expect that those rules will be followed."

Stein is also charged with three counts of attempted robbery with a firearm.

A new panel of potential jurors will go through the selection process on Tuesday, and prosecutors say they still expect to wrap up on Friday.