SWFL.io - Local NewsJury selection will continue on Wednesday for the trial of Thomas Stein, who is accused of the March 2024 shooting death of 15-year-old Kayla Rincon-Miller in Cape Coral. The day ended on Tuesday with no jurors selected yet.
All prospective jury members were dismissed on Monday following a dispute in the hallway during lunch recess over concerns that it may have been overheard.
In the middle of the jury selection process, the courtroom broke for lunch at 12:30 p.m. The families of the defendants, Thomas Stein, 18, and Christopher Horne Jr., 18, reportedly got into an argument in the hallway as they were leaving for lunch.
When the potential jurors returned to the courtroom at 1:30 p.m., Judge Nicholas Thompson asked the potential jurors if any of them had seen or heard the commotion in the hallway.
After the judge met with both the prosecution and the defense, every potential juror was dismissed, and the process started over on Tuesday.
Investigators said Kayla was walking with friends after a movie when a group in an SUV approached them and attempted to rob them. Shots were fired, and Kayla was killed.
Stein, who was a teenager at the time, now faces charges of first-degree murder and multiple counts of attempted robbery.
One of the most significant moments in the trial could come from Stein's co-defendant, Christopher Horne Jr., who was present during the shooting.
Horne took a plea deal and is expected to testify for the state against Stein this week.
With questions still lingering about who fired the gun and no other arrests made, the trial is expected to lay out, step by step, what happened that night.
The trial is expected to last at least five days.
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