3 family members of teen accused in murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller arrested

New details have emerged surrounding the arrest of a woman whose 16-year-old son is accused of being involved in the murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller, and now her husband and sister are also in jail.

According to an arrest affidavit by the Cape Coral Police Department released Friday afternoon, Shanice Stewart, 36, Christopher Horne, Sr., 36, and Varaka Stewart, 38, played a hand in threatening the mother of another suspect in the murder of the 15-year-old girl.

Stewart appeared in court for obstructing justice on Friday morning. She is the mother of Christopher Devon Horne, Jr., who, alongside Thomas Stein, 16, has been charged with the murder of Rincon-Miller following an attempted robbery turned fatal shooting on March 17.

• RELATED: Second teen accused in murder of Kayla Rincon-Miller to face charges as an adult

According to police, a couple of days after the shooting, two family members of Horne threatened Stein’s mother to keep her son quiet and not talk to police or “people on the inside” would take care of her son.

In the release of these arrests, police said, “The victim received a number of phone calls. During those calls, the female caller, believed to be Shanice Stewart, implored the victim to keep quiet and not to cooperate with law enforcement and assure that Thomas Stein did the same.”

Police said the caller “threatened and intimidated the victim, indicating she had people on the inside and the outside that could get to them. During one call, the caller thanked the victim for protecting her ‘baby.’”

The newly released police report shows that Stewart told Stein’s mother to put her son in a car and follow the Horne family to an empty lot on Cape Coral Street.

Stewart told Stein’s mother that if she does anything to take her son away from her, she’ll go after Thomas Stein.

And at this lot, the report says, Horne Sr. called Stein’s mother over to his car. He had a revolver in his hand when he threatened the lives of her and her son if they talked to the police.

The biggest reveal from the reports came when Horne Jr. was overheard telling his mother there were others involved in the killing of Rincon-Miller.

According to the report, Horne’s mother told her son that she was going to find and speak with those families as well.

According to safety and security specialist Kristen Ziman, the arrests for witness intimidation go some way toward encouraging others to come forward.

“It demonstrates a commitment to protecting those witnesses and that can reassure other witnesses, and that can remove a level of intimidation, even temporarily, among other witnesses, and the arrests can also serve as a testament to the effectiveness of the legal system and dealing with obstruction and intimidation,” Ziman said.

Horne Jr. would be arrested on April 17.

Stewart is charged with tampering with a witness, which is a first-degree felony. The judge set her bond at $75,000.

• RELATED: Teen accused in Cape Coral girl’s murder now held in Lee County Jail as adult

Stewart has a criminal history that includes petty theft, grand theft and aggravated battery with a firearm, which was dismissed.

The CCPD stated during its investigation that Horne Jr. was in the vehicle used in the shooting; however, police have not accused him of being the gunman.

Horne Jr. is being held without bond at the Lee County Jail, charged as an adult.

Stewart was ordered no contact with victims and codefendants, and if she is bonds out, she must wear an ankle monitor and be supervised.

However, the judge is allowing her to communicate with the father of her child through a third party.