Jermaine Thomas (top left) and his wife Tiffany Thomas (bottom left) were arrested in connection with the death of their adoptive son Troy Khoeler (right) (Pictures: Harris County Sheriff’s Office)
The adoptive parents of a boy whose body was discovered in a washing machine have been arrested after initially being questioned and let go.
Jermaine Thomas, 42, and his wife Tiffany, 35, were taken into custody in connection with the death of 7-year-old Troy Khoeler in July. Jermaine was charged with capital murder and Tiffany was charged with injury to a child by omission, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez stated on Tuesday night.
The Thomases reported Troy missing on July 28. Authorities searched their home in Spring, Texas, and found Troy’s body in a top-loading washer in the garage.
Troy was ‘beaten, suffocated and possibly drowned’, according to his autopsy report. Blood stained the washing machine and parts of the home. His death was ruled a homicide.
Jermaine Thomas was charged with capital murder (Picture: Harris County Sheriff’s Office)
Tiffany Thomas was charged with injury to a child by omission (Picture: Harris County Sheriff’s Office)
‘The autopsy revealed that Troy suffered new and previous injuries,’ said Gonzalez. ‘May he Rest in Peace.’
Troy’s parents were arrested and locked in Harris County Jail after an ‘extensive investigation’, Gonzalez said.
Jermaine’s bond was set at $2million while Tiffany’s was set at $150,000.
Troy Khoeler was found dead inside a washing machine in the garage (Picture: Harris County Sheriff’s Office)
The couple threatened to put Troy inside an oven after he admitted to eating some of Tiffany’s oatmeal cream pie, according to court documents filed Tuesday and obtained by KPRC. Text messages between the couple also indicated that Jermaine was outraged that Troy ate his doughnut sticks.
‘I need to get the (locks). I’m going to end up kill(ing) him,’ Jermaine allegedly wrote.
Jermaine was questioned by detectives all day after Troy’s body was found. The adoptive father said he could not find the boy after coming home and that the front door was unlocked.
A 7-year-old boy was found dead inside a washing machine in a home in Spring, Texas (Picture: FOX 26)
‘It’s just that I came home, I was fixin’ to walk in the door like right now, I don’t have my keys but I put my keys to the door handle and then it just open,’ he told reporters at the time. ‘Anything else after that, I don’t know.’
Tiffany was also questioned all that day.
The sheriff’s office charged neither of them with a crime and released them.
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The parents were initially questioned about the 7-year-old boy’s death and let off.
