Thomas Stein files request for new trial after being found guilty of killing Kayla Rincon-Miller

LEE COUNTY, Fla. —

Thomas Stein has filed a request for a new trial after being found guilty of the murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller last week.

>>Video above: Archive footage from May 4, 2026

According to court documents, Stein, who was found guilty in the shooting death of Rincon-Miller on May 4, is requesting a new trial or acquittal and claims that the evidence presented in his trial was legally insufficient for conviction.

The filing also claims that Emma Wright's testimony did not match the pre-trial discovery and that her testimony was substantially different from her previous accounts of the shooting. The filings also allege that the State Attorney's Office offered Stein's co-defendant, Christopher Horne Jr., the "plea deal of a lifetime" to pin the murder on Stein.

Stein also alleges that the court interfered with his constitutional rights to call witnesses, specifically when the court denied the defense's request to call Assistant State Attorney Alyssa Wolf as a rebuttal witness.

The filings also call for a new trial on the grounds that the court permitted the State to introduce evidence of an unrelated firearm, which was not the murder weapon. The filings say that the defense was allowed to introduce images of a gun owned by Stein's mother, but that none of the images were of the firearm allegedly used to commit the shooting.

The last ground called for in the filing is that the defense's objections were overruled throughout the trial.

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