An adoptive mother in Texas received a prison sentence this week after her adopted son was discovered dead in a washing machine in 2022.
Tiffany Thomas was found guilty of injury to a child by omission and sentenced to ten years in jail, according to KHOU.
In July, her husband, 45-year-old Jermaine Thomas, was sentenced to 50 years in jail for the murder of Troy Khoeler.
The investigation began in 2022, when Jermaine Thomas reported Troy missing, alleging he got home just before midnight and discovered his front door unlocked.
Officers arrived at Troy’s home and “did a brief interview for the missing person report” with his parents.
Troy’s lifeless body was discovered by deputies inside the garage’s washing machine.
An autopsy revealed that Troy had sustained both fresh and old injuries prior to his death, which was ruled a homicide by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
According to officials, Jermaine Thomas drowned Troy and assaulted him with an item before placing his body in the washing machine.
Troy’s instructor, Sheryl Reed, was in the courtroom when Thomas received his punishment.
She characterized the death as brutal and harsh.
“He (Troy) was the son I never had. “I loved that boy and wanted him to succeed,” Reed told KHOU.
She intends to preserve Troy’s memories over time.
“[I want to] speak for Troy and to advocate for Troy, so people would understand he wasn’t just a 7-year-old boy found in a washing machine,” Reed claimed.
Troy is remembered as a “big ball of energy” who enjoyed Sonic the Hedgehog, reading, and helping people.
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