A Texas man has been handed a 50-year prison sentence after he admitted to killing his 7-year-old adopted son. Per FOX 26 Houston, the deceased minor, identified as Troy Koehler, was initially reported missing in 2022 before his body was found in a washing machine.
The convicted man, identified as Jemaine Thomas, was handed the punishment on Wednesday after he entered a guilty plea. Tiffany Thomas, who is the deceased victim’s adoptive mother, is also facing a charge of injury to a child.
Koehler’s body was found on July 28, 2022, when Harris County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home at the 4400 block of Rosegate Drive after the minor was reported missing. Jemaine and Tiffany informed deputies that Koehler had disappeared the night before they reported him missing.
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An extensive search inside the home and neighborhood to try and locate Koehler was initially unsuccessful after more than an hour. Deputies then went back to the home and searched for the minor again.
A deputy, who was looking for the minor in the home’s garage and utility room section, ultimately found Koehler’s body inside the top-loading washing machine. The deputy stated that he subsequently called other deputies and attempted to ascertain if Koehler was alive.
During that attempt, Jemaine is said to have pushed the deputy before he pulled Koehler out of the washing machine. Jemaine and Tiffany were ultimately detained as other deputies performed CPR on Koehler.
One of the deputies, who responded to the scene, claimed that he noticed Koehler was wearing damp clothes and had urine emanating from his body, FOX 26 Houston reported. It was also observed that Koehler’s underwear was showing as his pants were pulled down. The upper part of the deceased minor’s legs had bruises too.
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It was later established that Koehler’s injuries were fresh, as well as, old after his body was transported to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. His cause of death was ultimately ruled as homicide.
Prior to his killing, Koehler’s school in 2022 contacted authorities over suspicious injuries the minor had suffered. This also triggered two CPS investigations, and his injuries were ultimately linked to physical abuse.
Court documents also stated that investigators saw chats where both Jemaine and Tiffany openly spoke about the minor getting on their nerves. In one of the text messages, the couple claimed Koehler had eaten their “oatmeal cream pies” and “donut sticks,” the Houston Chronicle reported.
Tiffany, in one of the text messages, informed Jemaine that she “threatened to put” Koehler in the “stove and turn it on” before the deceased victim confessed to helping himself to her oatmeal cream pies.
Jemaine, in a text to his wife, also said that he needed to “get the locks” after he got to know Koehler had not asked for permission before he ate donut sticks.
“I’m going to end up kill him,” Jemaine wrote in the text. “You going to come home and he going to be hang from the f— tree outside.”
