An inaugural event that organizers hope will bring the community together to remember and pay homage to a murdered teen will take place next weekend in Cape Coral.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Power of Us\u201d will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. next Saturday at the William \u201cBill\u201d Austen Youth Center in memory of Kayla Rincon-Miller, who was shot to death in the Cape two years ago. The Power of Us is a joint project of Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers and Kayla\u2019s House, a non-profit started by Kayla\u2019s family and friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Organizers say the goal for the March 14 event is to unite the community\u2019s young adults to show that teens have the power to create change against gun violence.<\/p>\n
Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers Manager and a Board Member of Kayla\u2019s House, Patricia Routte, said she hopes people will come out for several reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, we hope that they\u2019ll come out to honor the memory of a beautiful life taken far too soon,\u201d she said. \u201cKayla never had the opportunity to pursue her dreams and goals, and we want to ensure that her memory lives on and that her death was not in vain. We want to show young adults, in a fun and informal way, how making positive choices and speaking up can make all the difference. We want to show them that they have the power to enact change against gun violence. We\u2019re going to have games and fun activities, but we\u2019re also going to be doing a question-and-answer panel with law enforcement and school leaders where attendees can ask questions and have positive conversations about a difficult topic. We\u2019d love to see a lot of community support that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Routte said the event completely stems out of the love of the memory of Kayla, as well as the unified dedication to making the community safer and helping empower teens to make good choices so that they never have to endure the pain and loss that Kayla\u2019s friends suffered at the hands of gun violence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Crime Stoppers first met Kayla\u2019s family, there was an immediate connection and we knew that we wanted to help in any way possible,\u201d she said. \u201cThe relationship just grew from there, and from those first get togethers came the idea for The Power of Us and doing something that could help make a difference, and make Kayla proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
As well as games and activities for teens throughout the day, the event is to include a question-and-answer session during the afternoon with local authorities and victims.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want the question-and-answer part of the event to serve as a platform for young people to ask questions and to usher a healthy discussion about gun violence and the role that everyone has,\u201d Routte said. \u201cWe\u2019re also hoping that adults will offer their thoughts, as well. We see this as an informal opportunity to discuss a difficult subject, and hopefully get everyone on the same page. We want every single person who attends to leave the event feeling empowered to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regarding gun violence in Southwest Florida, especially amongst youth and how detrimental these acts of violence can be for all involved, Routte said she can speak from personal experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have sat with so many families who have lost someone at the hands of gun violence and it\u2019s beyond tragic,\u201d she said. \u201cUnless you\u2019ve walked in their shoes, you just can\u2019t imagine the horror of losing a child. As a parent, you have dreams of seeing your child graduate from high school, falling in love, getting married, pursuing a career and having a family of their own. But then senseless gun violence rips that away. So, if there is something that we can do to help prevent that from happening to one more family, we will do it. Young people can make the choice of speaking out when they see or hear of a young person who has a gun. Just saying something can prevent a tragedy from happening. And for adults, there is a responsibility that comes with gun ownership. If you have a gun, keep it locked up \u2014 always. Don\u2019t create a situation where your gun can fall into the wrong hands, especially the hands of a young person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kayla\u2019s House was formed out of love and commitment to keeping youth safe, Routte said. The non-profit status was just approved a few weeks ago, so it\u2019s in its very early stages, but the goals are clear \u2013 \u201cto do outreach to young people about the consequences of gun violence and to empower them to make a change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rincon-Miller, 15, was shot and killed in March of 2024 after she and two friends were walking to get food after watching a movie at the Coralwood Mall. Police say she and the girls, who were unharmed, were ambushed by individuals who jumped out of a car and attempted to rob them.<\/p>\n
A pair of Cape Coral teens were arrested in connection with Rincon-Miller\u2019s death. <\/p>\n
Thomas Stein and Christopher Horne Jr., who are both now 18, were given first degree murder indictments by a Lee County Grand Jury in late 2024. <\/p>\n
They were also indicted on three counts of attempted robbery \u2014 possession of a firearm.<\/p>\n
Horne Jr. pleaded no contest to second-degree murder charges in September of 2025. He is set to be sentenced on May 19 and could face up to 25 years in prison. As part of his plea, he must testify in the trial against Stein<\/p>\n
Stein\u2019s trial is set to begin on April 27. <\/p>\n
For the Southwest Florida community, it\u2019s paramount to remember Kayla, to keep her sprite alive, and help other youth learn from her unfortunate and tragic death, organizers of the event said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that she is proud of how her family, friends and community have bonded together, in her memory, to do something positive that makes a difference,\u201d Routte said. \u201cEveryone in Kayla\u2019s orbit was impacted by her death. Her family first and foremost has undergone, and continues to undergo, pain and sadness and utter loss. Her friends experienced a devastating event that they never imagined could happen to them. Because no one ever thinks it will happen to them \u2014 until it does. We hope that her death has served as a reminder to everyone in our community the importance of keeping guns locked up where young people cannot get a hold of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The William \u201cBill\u201d Austen Youth Center is at 315 SW 2nd\u00a0Ave., in Cape Coral.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An inaugural event that organizers hope will bring the community together to remember and pay homage to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-182276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}