Fired deputy charged with crimes had troubled past in law enforcementNew resolution could help fend off FEMA’s threat to pull flood insurance discount
FORT MYERS, Fla. – After being described as a “vicious killer” by Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott, then at one point facing the death penalty, Antonio Demond Donte Thomas received seven life sentences after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors on Monday. Thomas, 33, faced more than 20 charges in connection with a nine-day crime spree in 2012, including the abduction, assault, rape and murder of Phyllis A. Stein of Cape Coral. Stein, 61, was washing her new vehicle in the driveway of her Southeast First Place home on June 20, 2012 when investigators from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said Thomas forced her into the vehicle. Her body was found in the parking lot of Auto Zone on Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers. Her vehicle was located in Fort Myers’ Dunbar neighborhood. Thomas, who pleaded no contest to the killing, faced other charges, including: Six counts of kidnapping Two counts of battery Three counts of carjacking without a weapon Two counts of carjacking with a weapon Three counts of sexual assault Two counts of burglary with assault Two counts of grand theft