A New York woman who flew to South Florida to kill her romantic rival will spend the rest of her life behind bars.
A Broward County judge handed 31-year-old Sakiyna Thompson a life term in prison without the possibility of parole for the stabbing death of 23-year-old Kayla Hodgson. After an hour of deliberation, Thompson was found guilty and convicted by a jury of first-degree murder.
“Being violated in your own home, in the sanctity of your own home, is a scary thing. What’s even scarier is being attacked, being brutally murdered in your own home, and that person getting away with it,” said Assistant State Prosecutor Tonya Johnson, according to People.
On July 13, 2022, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office responded to a Tamarac apartment in South Florida after reports of an unresponsive woman. Upon arrival, officers found Hodgson dead at the scene with stab wounds. According to prosecutors, the defendant, who was pregnant at the time of the murder, had been blocked on social media by Hodgson, who was dating Thompson’s ex-boyfriend.
Enraged, the defendant boarded a flight from New York to Florida, used a fake Uber account while disguised with a wide hat and a COVID-19 mask, and arrived at the victim’s apartment around 5 am, before stabbing her to death.
Three weeks later, New York authorities arrested Thompson and extradited her to Florida to face trial.
During the trial, prosecutors submitted flight records and cell phone data that tied Thompson to the crime scene, in addition to bodycam videos that showed the brutality of the attack. Initially, the defendant said she couldn’t recall committing the homicide because she blacked out, but later admitted to the killing, attempting to clean up the crime scene, and changing into Hodgson’s clothes before she fled the scene.
"How about the audacity of you to come up on this stand and waste taxpayer dollars and tell them a crock of garbage to everyone about your blackout reasoning," said a member of Hodgson's family, during the victim’s impact statement, reported 6 South Florida.
Thompson’s defense team argued self-defense, that Hodgson had struck first by striking the defendant on the head and slashing her stomach. They claimed the killing happened in an attempt to save Thompson and the life of her unborn child.
The jury didn’t believe it.
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