Cape murder suspect’s mother, father and aunt arrested | News, sports, jobs

Shanice Stewart

Cape Coral police say they have arrested the mother and father of Christopher Horne Jr., the second teenager arrested as part of the murder investigation of 15-year-old Kayla Rincon-Miller.

Between May 9 and 10, Christopher D. Horne, 39, and Shanice Stewart, 36, Horne Jr.’s parents and his aunt Varaka Stewart, were arrested and charged with threatening, tampering and coercing a witness in the investigation of Kayla’s murder .

Investigators with the Cape Coral Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit say the victim reported that the day after Kayla’s murder on March 17 and the day before the arrest of Thomas Stein, the first juvenile murder suspect; Horne Jr. and his parents came to the victim’s home. According to police, the parents told the victim that Horne Jr. was named “Buster” and Stein were involved in Kayla’s murder. They asked the victim to follow them and bring stone.

Police say the victim and Stein feared for their lives and felt they had no choice but to follow them to the Gator Circle area in Cape Coral. The victim said she and Stein were there “Threatened to remain silent and not cooperate with law enforcement” while Buster’s father at some point “brandished a pistol.”

Police also said the victim stated that she was also threatened by another black woman who was at the scene when she arrived. That woman was later identified as Varaka Stewart, 38, the sister of Shanice Stewart and Buster’s aunt.

Christopher D. Horne

The victim told police that they were repeatedly threatened that they would be killed if they did not comply and remained silent.

The next day, March 19, investigators arrested Stein. The victim reports that Shanice and Varaka Stewart came to her house and again told the victim to stay calm and to keep Stein calm. During this meeting the victim said this was the case “Promised money to keep quiet.”

The victim reported receiving a series of phone calls between March 25 and April 17 in which the caller, believed to be Shanice Stewart, “implored the victim to remain silent and not cooperate with law enforcement, asserting that Stein had done the same.”

The victim says the caller threatened and intimidated her, suggesting that she, Shanice Stewart, “There were people from inside and outside who could get to her.” During a call, the victim said the caller thanked her “For protecting their ‘baby’.”

On April 17, Buster was arrested for the murder of Kayla Rincon Miller, and later that day the victim told police she received a call from the same person who stated: “‘They got my son’ and that she wasn’t playing games.”

Varaka Stewart

Christopher D. Horne, Shanice Stewart and Varaka Stewart are each charged with one count of tampering with a witness, a first-degree felony.

Cape police say the case was developed and investigated to protect the witness in the Kayla Rincon-Miller murder investigation. They say the department was assisted by the Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force – Fort Myers Office, which was critical in the search and apprehension of all suspects.

“We would also like to thank the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in collaboration with the District Attorney’s Office.” reported the police.