Teen of trial testifies in his case, names the person he says shot Kayla Rincon-Miller

CAPE CORAL, Fla. (WINK)—Thomas Stein, the 18-year-old charged with killing 15-year-old Kayla Rincon-Miller in an attempted robbery two years ago, took the witness stand to testify in his own defense.

Stein, who is facing life in prison, said he wasn't the one who shot Rincon-Miller and that there were two other boys in the car with them. He said the person who shot Rincon-Miller was one of Christopher Horne Jr.'s friends named JD.

"Kayla and JD they're just they're kind of almost in like an altercation they're fighting," said Stein. "At this point I kind of run up to separate them like and before I even get up that's when the gun went off."

• RELATED: Thomas Stein murder trial: Witnesses describe night teen was killed

That goes against what his co-defendant, Christopher Horne Jr. said earlier in the day. Horne was given a plea deal in September and agreed to testify against Stein as part of that deal.

Horne testified that the plan was to go rob cars on Cape Coral Parkway. After making a detour through the Coralwood Shopping Plaza parking lot, he said they saw the girls.

He testified that robbing the girls was Stein's idea. He testified that Stein was the one who shot Rincon-Miller.

"What was your immediate thought when the gun went off?" asked Assistant State Attorney Sara Miller.

"Why did you shoot?" said Horne.

However, the defense said Stein was not wearing a mask but Horne was that night.

"Nothing was planned, you know what I'm saying, nobody was supposed to die," said Horne.

Horne said he threw his phone in the Caloosahatchee River the next day. A couple of months after Rincon-Miller's death, the aunt, mother and father of Horne were arrested for alleged witness tampering.

They were allegedly arrested for threatening Jessica Stein, Thomas Stein's mother. Those charges were dropped last year.

The state said it's because of a secret recording they were given of what they say really happened.

"This recording was the most disturbing things that I received because I charged three people based on the word of Mrs. Stein," said Miller. "If I could have charged Jessica Stein for perjury I would have but my evidence would have been that recording and I can't use it. That's how serious it was."

But the defense said the recording is not all-encompassing of what happened.

"There's four different people from the Christopher Horne's family that were there at the park, there at the house, there's different conversations going on at the same time and to say that Thomas Stein admitted he took part in the killing is absolutely false," said David Wheeler, Stein's defense attorney.

Forensic specialists explained their findings. The kind of gun that was used to kill Rincon-Miller could have been a Glock 27 or another type of gun.

From testimony by Jessica Stein, she owns a Glock 27 that went missing after Rincon-Miller's death. As of now, they haven't found a murder weapon as evidence.

"Is it possible that a Colt made this?" asked Stein's attorney.

"I would have to compare a Colt in a similar way," said Amy Shober, a forensic specialist with the Cape Coral Police Department.

An expert from the Cape Coral Police Department said Stein's phone was pinged by nearby cell phone towers at the spot of Rincon-Miller's homicide near the Coralwood Shopping Plaza around the time officials say she was shot and killed. The trial will continue on Monday morning.