Step-dad reportedly admitted to killing his 5-year-old stepdaughter because she said she was hungry. The defendant, Thoma, had already admitted in an interview with police to stabbing 5-year-old Lunato death when investigators asked him why. “What was so awful about Luna today that you had to kill her?” one of the investigators asked the defendant. “I told her it wasn’t dinner time,” Thomas said, per reports. He went on to explain that Luna went to his room to tell him that he was hungry, to which he responded by trying to get her to leave. She proceeded to sit down on the floor, and Thomas pushed her towards the door.
“It tipped me over the edge,” he said. “She gave me more attitude.” Thomas picked the girl up by the shoulder and put her down on the floor before sitting on top of her and stabbing her in the chest several times. “What’d she do when you stabbed her?” Buckland asked. “She cried, and she coughed,” he responded. “Not very long.” In court, Thomas’ attorney attempted to have first-degree child abuse charges dropped, which would have left the defendant still facing a sentence for second-degree murder. However, Thomas was ultimately convicted of all charges.
“If you look at the circumstances surrounding this killing and ask: ‘When did the defendant premeditate, when did he reflect, when did he have time to think twice?’ Every step of the way,” Assistant Prosecutor Allen argued in court, WSYM reported. “Because before he knocked to the ground a 40-pound 5-year-old girl, he had time to think.” Many readers called for Thomas to be punished severely for the crime.
“This is just horrible!! This beautiful little girl was a typical five year old. She was hungry so she asked for food. This idiot got mad so he killed her. I hope the people in prison have a little surprise for him. Let the prisoners take care of him. I hope they beat him to a pulp and let him lay there in pain and misery,” one reader commented on Facebook. Thomas was found guilty of first-degree felony murder, first-degree child abuse and first-degree arson. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.