Thomas Roy Stein

A North Fort Myers teen charged in connection with the shooting death of Kayla Rincon-Miller will be adjudicated as an adult.

The State Attorney’s Office on Monday “direct filed” its case against Thomas Roy Stein, 16, from the juvenile court, placing him the adult criminal justice system, the agency said Monday.

“Defendant Thomas Stein was direct filed on at 8 a.m. this morning by the State Attorney’s Office, prior to the juvenile court hearing, so his case will be in the adult criminal system,” said Samantha Syoen, spokesperson for the State Attorney’s Office, 20th Judicial Circuit. “He was direct filed as an adult. The new case number is 24-000272F. He is currently in juvenile custody but will be transferred to adult custody where he will remain.”

Stein was arrested on March 19 and charged as a principal to a murder while engaged in a robbery.

Kayla was walking with two friends, heading to get something to eat after seeing a movie at the Coralwood Mall at around 9:40 p.m. on March 17. A car pulled up behind them and blinded them with its lights. An occupant or occupants jumped out and tried to rob the girls before one fired, striking Kayla in the chest, CCPD officials have said.

Kayla Rincon-Miller, 15, died March 17 after she was shot in what police say was an ambush attempted robbery. PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE CAPE CORAL POLICE DEPARTMENT

Stein was charged as a “principal” because he was “engaged in the attempt of a robbery and (his) accomplice caused the death of the victim,” the CCPD arrest report states, adding Kayla was shot by someone else.

According to the report, one of the witnesses identified him as the driver of the suspect vehicle, the license plate of which was caught on video.

The plate came back to a vehicle rented by Stein’s mother.

The two uninjured girls told police “several males” jumped out of a “fancy” silver SUV and that two of them had guns. They demanded the girls’ bags, the victims told officers, with one adding she then heard three gunshots ring out and realized Kayla had been shot.

So far, Stein is the only person who has been arrested in connection with the crime.

Cape Coral police are asking the community for patience when it comes to updates in its investigation.

In a video posted to social media and sent to news outlets Monday afternoon, Public Affairs Officer Lisa Greenberg said the department understands the public and media wanting to have the latest information, but that Cape Coral Police Department is doing what it needs to in order to protect the case.

“We know our community is anxiously awaiting updates in the murder of Kayla Rincon Miller,” Greenberg said. “We can tell you our detectives are working around the clock right now. They’re working so hard to make sure that anyone who may be involved in this is brought to justice. We also can tell you they are making some progress, but releasing exact details as to what exactly they’re doing, how they’re doing it, where this investigation stand, could be detrimental to this case. So please continue to be understanding as we work this case through. As soon as we can release any more information, we will, and we thank our community for being so invested.”

The CCPD has asked that anyone with information regarding the shooting, anyone who has any surveillance videos that may help detectives, or who saw what happened, to call the Cape Coral Police Department at 239-574-3223 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477).